Virender Sehwag credits the influence and backing by Sourav Ganguly for his successful career

New Delhi: India might have struggled on-field during Day 1 of 2nd Test against New Zealand at the iconic Eden Gardens stadium, but former Indian captains, Kapil Dev, Virender Sehwag, Anil Kumble and Sourav Ganguly were at their absolute best off-the field.

The humour loving Virender Sehwag started off giving due credit to former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly for making a young team click by giving players the confidence to go out in the middle and express themselves without feat.

Sehwag also acknowledged leadership qualities of Kumble and Dhoni's in shaping up his cricketing journey. (READ: Ravi Shastri lashes out at Virat Kohli for flop show in 1st innings at Eden Gardens)

In a special session at Star Sports, Viru revealed, "Dada had only one motive - to win overseas and become number one. I remember Kumble telling me, 'You will play the next four matches.... just go and give your 100%'. I was so content. I made my second triple hundred (319 vs SA in Chennai, 2008). The seed was sown by Dada, and Kumble continued.

"Cricket has not changed, but mindsets have. I never had fear of losing my place as my captain would tell me to just go out there and play freely. I could play fearless cricket because I had my captain's backing. My captains played a big role - be it Sourav, Kumble or Dhoni. Every successful player has an equally great captain behind him," Viru asserted.

Speaking about the biggest victory of his career, Sehwag said,"Headingley and Adelaide were the two most memorable Tests for me. In Headingly, I was fielding at short-leg and Anil bhai shouted 'catch it'. I said 'Anil bhai ye catch nahi tha (it was not a catch), and he retorted 'tu ne chhor diya (you let it go)'."

The session was full of humour and laughter as India's legendary captains revealed many dressing room secrets all throughout.