'Milk is the secret of his energy'

NEW DELHI: The secret is out. Doodh is the secret of Virender Sehwag’s energy. "He has always liked milk, milk products and relishes the kheer his mother prepares for him," says father Kishan Kumar. That and oodles of confidence in his own abilities and lot of hard work has made Sehwag what he is today — the first Indian to score a triple century in Tests.
"He is not bothered by the opponent’s reputation and always tries to play his natural game.He said the same thing to me before leaving for Pakistan and he has proved that he has the talent to dictate terms to the best.
"The best thing about Viru is that he is never afraid of hard work. Despite coming from the hectic tour of Australia, he had prepared nicely for the Pak tour, batting for long hours under the guidance of his school coach A N Sharma at the Vikaspuri ground . My son has an urge to excel and that has made him successful," Kishan says with pride as he de-constructs his son’s psyche on a day when he broke record after record at Multan.
But when all this started, Sehwag’s father was not convin-ced of his son’s dream of making it big in cricket. "I used to scold him for neglecting studies but his mother always supported him.
He was also very naughty and people used to frighten us that he was more interested in playing pranks and might end up being a failure in life. Woh kahtey thai, shararati bacche kamyab kum hootey hai, lekin Viru ne unhe galat sabit kar diya, Kishan said with obvious pride in his son’s achievements.
But soon Kishan realised, Sehwag was a star in the making. "I really took notice of his abilities when he was selected to go to South Africa for the U-19 World Cup in 1999 and soon he made it to the Indian team. That was the proudest day for the entire family. Now my son plays for the country and wins games for it." And from that day, he became Viru’s most ardent fan.
Kishan says Sehwag’s heart beats for cricket and playing well for the country is the top-most priority in his life. "He has earned a lot of money but that has not changed him. He is still the same Viru, always wanting to make a winning contribution to the Indian cricket team".
So it comes as no surprise that while packing his bags for the Pakistan tour, Sehwag had only one promise to make to his father. "Papa, main achacha kheloonga aur hum series jaroor jeetange" (Dad, I will play well and we will definitely win the series).
He’s fulfilled the first promise in the first match itself.