Virender Sehwag at a function in New Delhi on Friday. (PTI)

New Delhi: Virender Sehwag on Friday came out in support of senior cricketers in the Indian team, saying they should not be written off on the basis of their performance on one tour.

Speaking on the sidelines of a programme organised by a sports broadcaster, the Delhi player said one should always keep in mind the contribution of players like Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and V. V. S. Laxman.

“Every cricketer goes through a bad patch at some point or the other in his career,” Sehwag said. “I too had a poor run with the bat but I came back to prove everyone wrong.

“What is the point in criticising senior players in the team?

For more than 10 years now they have been carrying the team on their shoulders. You can’t dismiss them just because they didn’t do too well in one series. That is highly unfair,” Sehwag said.

When asked how he performed better than all four top batsmen, the hard-hitting batsman humbly said: “May be in one series I have done better than them. But they are great players and I feel small in comparison.”

Against Australia next month, Sehwag said he hoped to start from where he left off in Sri Lanka.

“I have fully recovered from my ankle injury and am looking forward to facing the Australians. Since there is no cricket this month, it will also help all of us to improve our fitness level.”

Replying to a question on whether he was hoping to get the Test captaincy, Sehwag said he was not craving for it.

“I know some people are saying that I should be the captain. But that is their opinion,” Sehwag commented. “I am a senior member of the team and I think my job is to give suggestions, which I do as a responsible member of the squad.”

In the Perth Test against Australia, Sehwag said he had insisted on playing Ishant Sharma — and the Delhi paceman captured the crucial wicket of Ricky Ponting.

Sehwag admitted that the absence of Andrew Symonds from the Australian team would help India in the series next month.

“It’s good for us but bad for cricket,” Sehwag said. “Symonds is a tremendous cricketer, both as a bowler and a batsman. His absence is not good for the game but it is definitely going to benefit us.”