Says Sehwag, who will skipper Maratha Arabians in the T10 tourney in the UAE
December 1, 2017
Reference: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-sports/test-cricket-needs-more-fitness/article21238479.ece
Virender Sehwag has said that Test cricket is a tough format and needed more fitness than that for a 50-over format.
The former India opener, who has played 104 Tests and 251 ODIs for India, was speaking at his unveiling as the captain of ‘Maratha Arabians’ team for the T10 competition to be held at Sharjah from December 14.
“You need to develop the mindset to play Tests. I remember after fielding two days, I batted two days. We lost wickets quickly, fielded on the fifth day, so I was on the ground all five days. I cursed myself and cursed my team also. You need more fitness in Tests than one-day cricket.”
Sehwag, who has two triple centuries in Tests, pointed out that players develop fitness necessary for Test by playing four-day games as juniors. “We play four-day cricket from under-14 days, so get used to and when we work on fitness, it lasts for a couple of hours. Bat for half an hour, field for half an hour and do bowling.”
Asked about difference between 10-overs-a-side game and the Twenty20 version, Sehwag said “cricket is the same. It does not matter you are playing 10 (overs), 20 or 50. You play the number of overs and try to score as much as you can. After the first league, we will get to know whether this format is liked by people or not.”
In the T10 tournament, Maratha Arabians will play Pakhtoons in the second game on the opening day, after Bengal Tigers face off against Kerala Kings. Punjabi Legends and Team Sri Lanka complete the line-up and the final will be held on December 17. The event is being held under the aegis of Emirates Cricket Board and recognised by the International Cricket Council.
