Former Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag recently revealed that the only bowler he was afraid of getting out to was Muttiah Muralitharan.
Speaking on the show Breakfast With Champions, Sehwag admitted that he struggled to score runs against the former Sri Lankan international and found it difficult to pick his doosra.
Despite his success against other spinners throughout his career, Sehwag lived under the constant fear of being dismissed by Muralitharan. He clarified that he never felt the same apprehension while facing renowned bowlers like Shane Warne or Shoaib Akhtar.
Sehwag humorously mentioned that it took him a whopping seven years to understand how to tackle Muralitharan. Although his ego would get hurt whenever the spin wizard got the better of him, Sehwag never hesitated to take on the challenge and go all-out against him.
In a previous revelation, Sehwag had admitted to not considering off-spinners as real bowlers. He recalled a time when he bashed Harbhajan Singh despite being sick. Similarly, he never regarded Muralitharan as a genuine bowler but still felt fearful of getting out to him.
Sehwag struggled to comprehend how an off-spinner could prevent him from scoring runs, and it took him many years to figure out how to handle Muralitharan’s bowling.