Sehwag’s latest interview with News18 cuts straight to the chase: Kohli and Rohit have stepped away from T20I and Test cricket, but that’s not the endgame for the sport.
Sehwag, for all his years opening India’s innings, is quick to point out that every super‑star’s exit—whether it was Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev or Sachin Tendulkar—was met with the same chorus of worry, and cricket survived each time.
He added, “Fans say they watch cricket for a particular player, but that’s a myth. The game keeps going because it’s bigger than any single captain.”
The crux of his argument? Accessibility. He notes that cricket used to live on a single medium—television—while today the game streams on smartphones, making it harder to miss a ball or a boundary.
Sehwag admits that a segment of the fan base may dial back, but he dismisses the notion that the entire audience will vanish. “Some of their fans won’t,” he says, “but many still tune in.”
His final thought is a punchy reminder that if cricket were only a star’s platform, it would have folded long ago: “Agar cricketers se hi game chal rahi hoti, toh ab tak band ho jati.”
The next line on the scoreboard: India’s next big challenge is the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026.