Shaheer Ahmed
Former Indian Test cricketer Virender Sehwag praised the people of Pakistan for their hospitality and said that he was deeply moved by the warm welcome he got when he visited the country in 2003. India played a series of five One Day Internationals (ODIs) and three Tests in Pakistan in 2003.
"No one ever took any money from us in Pakistan, I bought 30-35 sarees for my family from Lahore, and they didn't take a penny," Virender Sehwag.
'Aap toh mehmaan ho, aapse paise kese le sakte hain hum?' ❤️
Video courtesy: Oaktree Sports & @gauravkapur / @virendersehwag pic.twitter.com/mud4PUUkDY
— Farid Khan (@_FaridKhan) June 5, 2023
India won the ODI series by a score of 3-2, and they won the Test series by a score of 2-1.
In a recent interview on a YouTube channel, Virender fondly recalled the tour and expressed his admiration for the people of Pakistan and their welcoming nature. He stated, “When we toured Pakistan back in 2003-04, we found so much love from the Pakistani people.”
Read More: Was Chahat Fateh Ali Khan was a Former Cricketer?
Virender Sehwag then told a sweet story about something that happened during the trip. Before the second Test in Lahore, he went shopping and bought 30-35 Pakistani clothes from a local market for his family. The seller told him that he couldn’t take money from a customer, which surprised him. Sehwag remarked, “We received such love everywhere in Pakistan.”
During the conversation, Sehwag also spoke highly of the former Pakistani player Inzamam-ul-Haq. He thought that Inzamam was the best middle-order batter in Asia, even better than the famous Sachin Tendulkar. Sehwag talked about how Inzamam was able to stay calm and score runs even when he was under a lot of pressure, especially in 2003-2004 when an average of eight runs per over was considered very good.
He stated, “Tendulkar was out of batters’ league; he was above it. But Inzamam was the best in the middle order. I am referring to the time around 2003-04 when a run rate of around eight seemed impossible. Teams would panic in such situations, but Inzamam remained calm while scoring at a run rate of around eight.”
