Virender Sehwag Once Stopped A Test Match. Why? To Remember A Song!

Ever heard of a cricketer stopping a game because he couldn't remember the lyrics of a song? Well, the one and only Virender Sehwag has done that, while smashing his way to his second triple-hundred, against South Africa during a Test in Chennai in April 2008.

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"Once when I was batting in Chennai on 300, I forgot the lyrics of song. So I called Ishant Sharma, who was the 12th man for that game, to the field and told him to get the lyrics of the song from my iPod, and he did that. Obviously, everyone thought that I had asked for 'drinks' from Ishant, but sometimes, the 12th man can be used in this way too! The song was ' Tu Jaane Na '." Sehwag recalled on Wednesday evening here, while launching the second season of the Goregaon Sports Club's premier league.

And what would be the song on his lips while facing 'Rawalpindi Express' Shoaib Akhtar? " Aa dekhen zara, kismein kitna hai dum ," he responded instantly. Revealing about why he had this peculiar habit of singing while batting, the retired great said: "Before facing a ball, I used to keep thinking about whether to hit the ball for a four or a six. To avoid thinking too much, and maintain my concentration, I started singing."

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As is his wont these days, the 38-year-old kept producing witty one-liners the same way in which fours and sixes flew off his bat. The man who made Test cricket thrilling with his exhilarating batsmanship is now a rage on twitter and with the mic, coming up with hilarious one-liners which leave you in splits.

If England all-round great Ian Botham felt that the best way to deal with your mother-in-law was to send her to Pakistan, Sehwag has a better solution. "There's no point in arguing with them. Treat them like I would treat fast bowlers. I realised that there's no point in 'sledging' them. Once, when Andy Flintoff was bowling bouncers to me in India, I promised him that if he didn't do that, I would take him to a place where you get good curry in the evening. It worked."

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Any takers?

So what is Sehwag's take on the much-debatable demonetisation drive introduced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "I believe that a bachelor brings about a change, while a married man brings vegetables home, or takes the dog for a walk."

When it comes to talking about his married life, 'Viru' claimed that follows the same mantra that he stuck to as a batsman. "I would never argue with the umpire, because he could give me out anytime. Similarly, I would never argue with my wife. An umpire would still forget what happened, but your wife would remember what exactly did you say when you fought with her," he quipped cheekily.

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The dashing batsman, though, loved to fool around with the umpires. "Looking at David Shepherd's big tummy, I once asked him how heavily pregnant it was. He kept laughing throughout the day. On another occasion, I asked Steve Bucknor, who had given a few wrong decisions, his age. When he told me it was 55, I told him that it was time for him to retire," Sehwag revealed.

The only time he appeared a bit emotional was when he spoke about what spurred him to launch a world-class school, named after him, near Delhi. "Every day, I used to travel in a bus for two-and-a-half hours to go for my practice and then take the same time to come back. My dad told me ' beta , when you become successful some day, open a school-cum-academy for kids who don't have the privilege to play with all the facilities, where they can stay too. So, it was my father's dream that some day, I start an academy for kids with all the facilities and I feel proud that I could complete my father's dream."

Sehwag's sons have just started playing cricket, and he has just one advice for them. "Instead of spending time in front of the TV or your phone, do 'shadow practice' in front of the mirror. You've to keep working hard, is all I would tell all the kids," he said.

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He was also candid enough to admit that he would feel a bit of 'pain' the day someone breaks his record for cracking the highest individual score in a Test inning-319, while confessing that he didn't know how to be "politically correct."

The only Indian to score two Test triple-hundreds made it clear that commentary was his new passion these days. "I've started to love speaking on the mic. It's become a passion. I love to crack a few jokes and one-liners while I commentate," he said.

Clearly, some people are born to entertain. Sehwag is one of them.