JOIN US “He is our best player in the middle-order and he has proved that he is a good leader as well. He has been our true match-winner for some time now and if you look at the second game we reached 300 runs only because of him. So obviously we will miss him,” said Sehwag taking time off during India’s optional practice session.
Regular skipper Dhoni copped a two-match ban by match referee Jeoff Crowe for maintaining slow over-rate during the second one-dayer at Nagpur and Sehwag was given the responsibility of leading the side in Cuttack and Kolkata.
Sehwag, who is no stranger to stepping in at short notices, said he was mentally equipped for the challenge. “There is not much pressure on me as everyone in the side is performing well. It’s not difficult to take charge suddenly because I have been in the team and I know who is doing what. Also I know what have been our strategies, plans and what to do and what not to. It’s not that difficult,” he noted.
With another thriller likely on the cards Sehwag will also be under pressure to finish India’s quota of overs on time. “Captain, bowlers and fielders effort will be that the 50 overs are completed in three and a half hours.
“But when the game reaches a crucial stage, you start strategising a lot like bowling changes, fielding changes and talking to bowlers. In the process you will lose a lot of time. But we will try to finish our quota of overs within the prescribed time,” he stated.
After having a look at the wicket, Sehwag, like his Lankan counterpart Kumar Sangakkara, predicted another high-scoring match. “It looks like a good track to bat on and luckily both the teams are batting well. In the first match both the teams scored 400-plus and in the second over 300. In T20s also both the teams batted well. And hopefully tomorrow it will be a good day for the batsmen,” he said.
When asked about bowlers’ plight on such placid wickets, Sehwag had this to offer: “Today batsmen’s thinking has changed. They are confident that they can chase down any target. That’s a plus point because it doesn’t matter whether your target is 300 or 400, no target seems too big for them. Bowlers will have to work strategies to get the batsmen out!”