Sehwag: I was the first person to inform Ganguly about Greg Chappell's email to BCCI

Kolkata: Virender Sehwag revealed that he was the first to inform Sourav Ganguly about the infamous Greg Chappell email to the BCCI during the 2005 Zimbabwe Tour, an event that led to the Indian captain's ouster.

It was during a match in Zimbabwe that Sehwag had an upset stomach as he took a break and Sehwag got to see Chappell writing the email to Board outside the washroom. "It was near the washroom when I told Chappell about my upset stomach I saw him writing the email addressed to the BCCI. I did not get to see the content but I could reckon it was a very serious matter and informed Ganguly immediately."

Sehwag thanked Ganguly for converting him into an opener. "The moment I scored a hundred I was very happy. I hugged Ganguly many times. He was very humble and only captain to have sacrificed his place as opener for me in Tests."

The mentor of the Kings XI Punjab team has got a masterstroke in buying Chris Gayle at his base price of Rs 2 crore after he was left unsold twice at this year's auctions. The 38-year-old Gayle, who is the leading run-scorer in Twenty20 cricket, lit up the IPL with the first century of season 11, hitting an unbeaten 104 off 63 deliveries.

"I've already tweeted it because nobody is a greater entertainer than him. That was a strategy because we had to buy other players also. He would have cost more if he was taken up in the first phase.

"He missed a lot of games (last year) because he had pain in his back. Kohli dropped him also. I was expecting nobody will pick him, he's of my age. If we pick him, he's good guy to do the marketing. He's fabulous with all the marketing guys, everyone loves Chris Gayle.

"He was fitting in our group. We bought him for Rs 2 crore and if he wins two game, I recover my money. Still more games to go and if he wins two more time he wins four games. He's a big asset for KXIP now," he concluded.