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‘ENJOYING COMMENTING RATHER THAN GETTING READY FOR A MATCH’
Virender Sehwag’s innings away from cricket has been an exciting one
Therearedays whenyouthink, ‘shouldIplaymore’. Butformethattime hasgone.
Virender Sehwag is happily retired, and doesn’t spend his time reminiscing about the days spent on the field. The former India opener confesses that it has been months since he even picked a bat, and says he is enjoying exploring this new phase of his life.
“If I see somebody playing, I am like ‘Thank God, I’m not playing’. Because I had a lot of pain in my body when I was playing cricket. I had hip joint issues, back problems, shoulder issues, and had a couple of surgeries. That was the reason why I retired in my 30s,” admits Sehwag, part of the 2011 World Cup winning team, who retired in 2015.
He continues, “I am happily retired and enjoying my comments on cricket rather than putting a lot of effort, doing a lot of practice, going to gym to get ready for the matches. There are some people who ask me, ke andar se nahi aata ke thoda aur bat uthaon, ya ek do balls aur khel lun’, and my answer always is ‘no’.”
Sehwag, who played international cricket roughly for 14 years, reveals he picked up a bat back in March, and has not touched it since. “Even when my kids play, I never ever try to play a ball with them,” he says.
But is it that easy to detach from
Icricket, which continues to shadow your life in some way even today? “Now, I’m playing a lot of other sports, like table tennis, carrom or chess, which don’t come with any pressure on the body. However, there are days when you think, ‘should I play more’. But for me that time has gone, so now I am enjoying my commentary,” shares the 42-year-old.
Even though commentary is his bread and butter, he is exploring more from his life, from starting a school to having an activewear and sportswear brand, VS by Sehwag, with which he recently went virtual.
“I came out with a sportswear brand in March last year, and after that, pandemic and lockdown t has been more than three months and I am fighting the battle. The matter is subjudice so I don’t want to talk much about it,” says actor Karan Mehra. Earlier this year, his wife, actor Nisha Rawal had accused him of domestic violence and filed a police complaint. In May, he was arrested for allegedly assaulting her and released on bail. Amid the ongoing dispute, Mehra, who hasn’t seen his four-year-old son Kavish since then, says, “I have not seen him in more than 100 days, not able to enter my home or take my belongings. It has been an emotional, disturbing and painful time.”
Mehra asserts that everyone in his family, including his parents, were falsely implicated in the case. “It is not right to put my parents through all this. The proceedings, the process and happened. It was a very tough time for us from a revenue point of view and managing everything. Thank God, bad times went and good times are here… Now, our aim is to reach ₹100 crore revenue in the next three to five years,” he says.
It is no secret that cricket has always been a favourite when it comes to biopics in Bollywood. And he is not averse to watching his life story play on screen.
“If an opportunity comes from a good production house, and they are ready to pay me the big check, then I will think about it,” he says, adding that he has no name in the wishlist for the same.
“That’s not my job. It is the director and casting director’s job,” he says while wrapping up. the fight are not easy. I am out of my house while she and her brother are in the house, aaram se,” says the actor. He reveals he has proof of every implication and will share them with the authorities “at the right time”. He says, “You can’t go head on in such matters. It doesn’t have to be a public trial. Kavish will see stories online of our fights. Things are being handled legally.”
His experiences have taught him that it is an uphill fight for men when implicated in a domestic violence case. “If a person like me is going through this, then one can’t even imagine what a regular guy must be going through. Thankfully, I have so many people who have been supportive, which really matters to me,” he concludes.
VIRENDERSEHWAG,