Sehwag defends comments on Akhtar saying “I said it in jest, but it is the truth”

03/06/2016

Days after saying that Shoaib Akhtar praises Indian cricketers for commercial reasons, Virender Sehwag on Saturday played down but also reaffirmed his controversial comments in one go. Sehwag also picked India, NZ, SA and West Indies as the favourites to enter the semi-finals of World T20.

Sehwag had said on Friday that former Pakistani pacer Shoaib Akhtar talks good about India in order to earn more money.

“Shoaib Akhtar became a really good friend because he wanted to establish business in India. That’s why he had to talk good about India so that he could get paid by doing commentary. Whenever you see Akhtar today, you’ll notice him praising India so much, nobody would even believe him praising India so much in his life. During my time when he used to bowl to me, there was no love lost. Money can do everything,” Sehwag had said.

When asked about his comments on the sidelines of an event in the capital, Sehwag told PTI that he made the comments jokingly but added he only said what he feels about it.

"Arrey yaar who to mazaak mein kaha tha, hala kee wo sach tha (I said it jokingly though it is what I feel)," Sehwag said.

The former Indian cricketer also picked India, NZ, SA and West Indies as the favourites to enter the semi-finals of World T20.

"Apart from India I would pick New Zealand in their group. The teams to watch out fromother group will be South Africa and West Indies. India remains favourites to repeat the feat of 2007. They are playing good cricket at the moment and the combinations are working well," Sehwag told PTI.

When asked about the reason for India’s dominance over Pakistan in the ICC events, Sehwag said that the Men in Blue are playing much better cricket than their arch-rivals.

"It is difficult to pinpoint a reason but to put it simply, India is playing much better cricket than Pakistan and we have better talent than Pakistan," the 37-year old said.

(Sehwag had an unconventional technique, yet he was one of the greatest India has produced - here is a feature on Sehwag the 'Un-Opener'.)