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The recently-retired Virender Sehwag has promised his sons his old Ferrari if they surpass his record Test score of 319 runs.
On the occasion of his felicitation by the Board of Control for Cricket in India at the start of the fourth Test between India and South Africa in Delhi on Thursday, the former India opener also spoke fondly of his illustrious days as an Indian cricketer, but regretted his inability to break Brian Lara’s highest Test score.
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Sehwag revealed that if any of his sons break his record score 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," he said.
Talking about his career, Sehwag said: "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."
Asked what else he thought he could have achieved, and a candid Sehwag replied: "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 the M A Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai)."
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."