'Can you write it down on paper and give it to me?' Angered by Captain Ganguly's decision, the veteran batsman made this special demand.

In the 2011 ODI World Cup, Virender Sehwag started India's campaign by playing a brilliant inning of 175 runs in the first match. Although he did not start as an opening batsman. Sehwag started his Test career in 2001 under the captaincy of Sourav Ganguly. He made his debut against South Africa in Bloemfontein, where he batted at number four and scored a century. The decision to promote Sehwag to the opening position was taken later. In a program of Ocean Blue Academy, Ganguly had told how Sehwag was persuaded to open. Sourav Ganguly said, 'I am very fortunate that I got the opportunity to captain a player like Virender Sehwag. Who was a young player who had come from Delhi. Who had a lot of talent. A week before the first Test started, I went to him and said, 'Viru, you are a great player, but you are not getting a chance to play because we have Dravid at number three, Tendulkar at number four and me. ' He is at number five and Laxman is at number six.

'I will make Kishore Kumar…' Sehwag was humming in the middle of the field, the bat fell from behind, then it is difficult to believe what happened next

Sehwag said- I never opened
Sourav Ganguly said that I told him that you know that players like you cannot sit on the bench. So why don't you open? On this Sehwag said, Dada I never opened. Then I said what if I didn't open it? Ganguly said that I knew that his next question would be what if I get out early with the new ball?

Sourav Ganguly had made this promise to Veeru
Then Sourav Ganguly told Sehwag that if you fail then it will not matter to us because you are doing something in the interest of the team. You are going to do something you have never done. So, even if you fail to open, we will give you a chance to bat lower down the order. Ganguly told that when our conversation was over, Veeru asked, can you write it on paper and give it to me.

Ganguly's candor boosted Veeru's confidence
Virender Sehwag has also told many times that Ganguly had said that even if you fail in the opening, we will give you three-four more innings. We will not remove you from the team. Before dropping you, we will definitely give you a chance to bat lower in the order. Veeru said that Dada has honesty and this boosted my confidence. Then I felt that since Dada is supporting me so much, I should also try opening. Veeru has admitted many times that whatever he is today is because of his grandfather.

tag: saurav ganguly, Virender Sehwag