Rajkot, December 16: Chilled out character Virender Sehwag, who was adjudged the Man-Of-the-Match after the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led national team defeatedSri Lanka in the first ODI here today, said he was supporting the visitors as he feels that whenever he supports India, they lose.
India pulled off a thrilling three-run win against Sri Lanka to take 1-0 lead in the five-match ODI series.
”I was supporting Sri Lanka. My superstition is that whenever I support India, they lose. So I was supporting Sri Lanka,” Sehwag said.
Sehwag blazed away to a blistering 102-ball 146 to help India amass a massive total of 414 for seven.
”I am in good form. I scored 200 in Tests, 50 in T20, I was telling myself I am in good form I have to utilise it.
”We (me and Sachin) were aiming for 350 to begin with, but MS played really well and raised the bar. In Test matches I score big hundreds, but in ODIs I get out in 30s and 40s, so this is good time to convert them into big hundreds,” Sehwag added.
Dhoni, poularly known as captain cool, said he was bit tense during the Lankans innings when the visiting team was inching close to the huge total but also praised his bowlers for the victory.
”It’s quite tough to be cool when you score 400 and almost lose it. First 35 overs we were not really up to the mark, maybe we just accepted that the wicket had got better, maybe we were not focusses.” ”But the way we bowled and fielded after that was awesome.
Also we could have scored 450, which would have been an ‘above-par’ score. Catches, of course, if you don’t take offerings from set batsmen you are going to be in trouble,” he added.
Sri Lankan skipper Kumar Sangakkara was very much dissapointed with the loss as his team lost the match which was almost within their grasp.
”It is actually worse when you come this close and lose and rather than lose easily. Most of the time you can roll over and die chasing over 400, but we almost made,” he rued.
”After 35 overs, we should have batted smartly, India held their nerve better than us. At the end of the day, you have to acknowledge that India played better than us – slightly.”
–Agencies