Virender Sehwag would’ve easily crossed 10,000 Test runs if he played for another country: Rashid Latif

Rashid Latif, the former Pakistan cricketer, said that Virender Sehwag, for most part of his career, played under the shadows of Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid. In 104 Tests, the Nawab of Najafgarh managed 8,586 runs at 49.34 with 23 centuries and 32 half-centuries. However, Latif said that the tally could easily have crossed 10,000 had he played for another country.

Latif called the now 41-year-old Sehwag a fearless character and said that impactful players like him taste success at the highest level. Latif, who played 37 Tests and 166 ODIs for Pakistan, stated that the opponents were always wary of Sehwag when he came to bat.

Virender Sehwag’s record speaks for him

“He used to play to dominate. We are used to openers who were a bit circumspect at the beginning, gauging how the pitch is, who the bowler is whether (Glenn) McGrath, Brett Lee, Wasim Akram or Shoaib Akhtar.

But Sehwag was someone who feared none. He was an impactful player, had a great influence in his team and players like him succeed in world cricket,” Latif was quoted as saying in a Youtube show called Caught Behind.

“Sehwag’s record speaks for him. He has 8 thousand plus runs in Test cricket. He is someone who has always remained under the shadows of other players. He played with Sachin, played with Rahul and remained under their shadow. If he was playing for any other country then he would’ve easily crossed 10 thousand runs, only one and a half thousand runs were remaining,” he added.

Back in 2004, Sehwag became the first triple-centurion for India in Test cricket, accomplishing the milestone against Pakistan in Multan. Then a few years later in 2008, he smashed another triple ton, that time against South Africa at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. The score of 319 remains to be the highest individual Test score for India even after 12 years.

On March 2013, the Delhi-born played his last Test against Australia in Hyderabad. It also happened to be his final international match. That he played the longest format at a strike-rate of 82.23 showed the kind of dominance he had over the bowlers.