'Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Yousuf abused me on my debut' - Virender Sehwag

Former India opener Virender Sehwag has revealed that Pakistan players, Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Akhtar, and Mohammad Yousuf hurdled abuses at him during his debut game. The destructive batter made his debut in 1999 against Pakistan at Mohali.

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The 'Nawab of Najafgarh' said he was nervous during that game thus decided to keep mum but gave it back later. Sehwag has a phenomenal record against Pakistan, scoring 1276 runs in Tests at an average of 91.14, including four centuries. In ODIs, he has 1071 runs from 31 games and averages over 34 with two tons and six fifties. He was also named the ‘Sultan of Multan’ after scoring a mammoth 309 in Multan.

"I was around 20-21 years old then. When I went in to bat, the players like Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Yousuf and all other Pakistan team members, welcomed me by abusing a lot, which I hadn't even heard before” Sehwag told RJ Raunak in his new show, 13 Jawab Nahi.

"I understood a bit of Punjabi so I could figure the abuses that were hurled at me but I couldn't do much because it was my first match and I was nervous myself. Some 20-25000 people had come to watch the match and I had never imagined of playing in front of so many people. So back then, I couldn't do much, but later when I became a player, I ensured I gave it back to them."

Sehwag said every time he played against Pakistan, he was determined to perform well as he could never forget the treatment he received in his debut game.

"When we went to Pakistan for the 2004 tour, by scoring the triple-century in Multan, I returned all their abuses and exacted revenge. Whenever I played against Pakistan, automatically my blood starts boiling and that's why I always performed well against them and averaged well," Sehwag added.