One of India's greatest long format match-winners Virender Sehwag reckons that if star wicket-keeper batter Rishabh Pant goes on to play 100 plus matches, he will get his name etched in record books forever.
Sehwag is among the 11 Indians to have played 100 plus Tests and scored over 8500 runs as he is country's only cricketer to have struck two triple hundreds in Test cricket.
Pant has played 30 Test matches and amassed 1920 runs so far at an average of 40.85 as he has an enviable record being the only Indian keeper to have scored Test hundreds in Australia, England and South Africa.
"If he (Pant) goes on to play 100+ Tests, his name would be etched in the history books forever. Only 11 Indian cricketers have achieved this feat, and everyone can recall those 11 names," Sehwag said on 'Sports18' while making it clear that white-ball exploits are not for posterity.
The instant gratification of matches won in T20Is and ODIs are fine but in the long run, people only remember what you have done in a white jersey, said the 'Nawab of Najafgarh'.
Talking about Virat Kohli, who is one of the biggest ambassadors of Test cricket in the world, Sehwag said the former Indian captain knows he would be immortalised in record books if he goes on to play 150-200 Tests for India.
"Why does Virat Kohli emphasise so much on playing Tests? He knows that if he plays 100-150 or even 200 Tests, he will be immortalised in the record books," Sehwag said.
Sehwag himself had been one of the destructive players to feature in Test cricket, amassing 8,586 runs averaging 49.43 at an impressive strike rate of 82.23 apart from 8,273 in ODIs at 35.05 with a strike rate of 104.33.
The Nawab of Najafgarh also speaks about his penchant for hitting boundaries on the first ball. “Many, including Tendulkar, told me that I planned to hit the first ball to the fence. But I never did,” admits Sehwag, who is 2nd in the list of batsmen with most fours in an innings in both Tests and ODIs. “I would be prepared to hit the first ball thinking it would more often be a loosener or a warm-up delivery.”
