India won World Cups because of good teams; Sachin has the right to choose series: Sehwag

Virender Sehwag's penchant for plain speaking is rather well known but his comments on skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni has all signs it could open up old wounds at the start of a new season, says a report in Hindustan Times.

“On Wednesday, two days after the explosive batsman's comeback to the India fold for the limited overs series in Sri Lanka, Sehwag was asked to elaborate on Dhoni's captaincy skills that enabled him to led the team to the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup as well as the ODI World Cup at home last year. Sehwag explained that it was due to two good teams, of course backed by Dhoni's leadership. But this will only trigger fresh debate whether all is well between the stalwarts in the India team rather than end it,” says the HT report.

"Dhoni got a very strong team," Sehwag, speaking at the inauguration of a cricket academy, said. "When you get a strong team, it is easier to perform well, just like Australia did at one point of time. We won the World Cup because we had a very strong team, which was ably backed by Dhoni's leadership."

Meanwhile a Mail Today report says that it was a tough day for India opener Virender Sehwag on Friday as the Delhi dasher inaugurated two academies, insinuated that India's achievements on the field over the past few years were because of a strong team and not particularly due to Mahendra Singh Dhoni's captaincy and later in the day, admonished the media for sensationalising his remarks.

It was a routine question at the launch of the Saba Karim Genesis Pro Cricket Centre, where Sehwag was asked about Dhoni's captaincy legacy on the eve of the India skipper's birthday. But the Delhi opener's reluctance to acknowledge any facet of Dhoni's captaincy has reignited the debate over the working relation between the two stalwarts of Indian cricket. “'We had a very strong team that performed well together. When a team is strong, the captain wins. If you look at Australia too, they won so many games and World Cups because they had a strong team. So we did well because we had a good team, backed by Dhoni,' Sehwag said in Noida on Friday.

According to a report in The Hindu, Sehwag said that Sachin Tendulkar will be missed by the Indian team during the upcoming limited overs series in Sri Lanka, but he has the right to pick and choose which series he wants to play, opening batsman Virender Sehwag said on Friday.

“Not only me but the whole country misses Sachin when he is not in action. But one should realise that he is 39 years and he should be allowed to pick and choose which series he wants to go. He will certainly be available for the Test series against New Zealand,” Sehwag told reporters at the inauguration of Saba Karim-Genesis Pro-Cricket Centre in Noida.