Sehwag was accompanied by his mother, wife and two sons during the short ceremony. (BCCI.TV Photo)

First Test ton most memorable: Virender Sehwag

NEW DELHI: Retired legend Virender Sehwag on Thursday thanked his former India captains Sourav Ganguly , Rahul Dravid , Anil Kumble along with iconic Sachin Tendulkar for their guidance during his illustrious international career.Sehwag, however, did not mention the name of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, under whom he played for the national team for almost six years.The BCCI on Thursday formally felicitated Sehwag before the start of the fourth Test match against South Africa with secretary Anurag Thakur presenting him with a glittering trophy for his achievements.Sehwag was accompanied by his mother Krishna Sehwag, wife Aarti and two sons Aryavir and Vedant during the short ceremony.In his brief farewell speech, Sehwag thanked everyone from BCCI to DDCA to his first coach AN Sharma and Satish Sharma, who first picked him for Delhi U-19s."I want to thank my father for allowing me to play the game of cricket and give me freedom to do whatever I wanted to. All my coaches, especially AN Sharma for making me the cricketer I am," the 37 year old said.He also had words of gratitude for his close friends, including Delhi U-19 coach Raju Sharma.When it came to the captains, Sehwag said: "I want to thank my first captain Ajay Jadeja and other captains Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble. I want to thank Sachin Tendulkar."There was no mention of Dhoni, though.Sehwag also mentioned about the contribution of the physios and trainers during his 14-year long career.In the end, he thanked the fans for "making him Sehwag"."I would like to thank all my fans for standing by me in my good and bad times," he said.While DDCA is yet to name a stand or gallery, the BCCI has temporarily named the far-end stand at the Ambedkar Stadium end as "Viru 319" after the batsman's highest Test score.NEW DELHI: The recently-retired Virender Sehwag on Thursday rated his first Test century as the most memorable moment but said he regretted not having scored a 400 despite reaching the triple-century mark twice during his illustrious career."My most memorable moment was scoring my first Test ton because when I started playing, everyone said that 'Sehwag is very good in limited overs cricket and his batting style suits ODIs' but I thought if I had scored heavily in the four-day Ranji Trophy matches, I should get to play in the Tests."So when I got an opportunity, I was very excited. That is why when I scored my first century in Test cricket, it became the most memorable moment," said Sehwag after being felicitated by the BCCI at the start of the fourth Test match between India and South Africa.Asked what else he thought he could have achieved, and a candid Sehwag said," May be I could have scored a 400 and broken Brian Lara's record."...I thought I had a chance of scoring 400. Unfortunately I got out after reaching 319 (against South Africa at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai)," he said.The flamboyant opener said he never wanted to change his style of play even in Test cricket."I used to prepare well before a match. I used to study the bowlers. I used to have a look at their in-swingers and out-swingers and prepare accordingly. So when I would come to the ground, I used to start hitting the bowlers straightaway. I never changed that in my game and continued to play like that all throughout my career."Sehwag revealed that if any of his sons can break his record of 319 at any level, he would gift him his old Ferrari."An old Ferrari is a motivation for my sons to break my record. If any of them can do it at any level, I will gift it," said Sehwag.