Tendulkar pats Sehwag

Virender Sehwag on Friday disclosed that batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar had sent him a congratulatory message on his match-winning innings against New Zealand in the triseries on Thursday.

"Sachin has sent a message asking me to 'keep it up'," a beaming Sehwag said.

Sehwag, who opened the Indian innings with captain Sourav Ganguly, smashed a 69-ball 100, to guide India to a comprehensive seven-wicket victory over New Zealand in the last league match of triangular one-day series, for a place in Sunday's final against Sri Lanka.

The innings drew comparisons with Tendulkar for the sheer contempt Sehwag showed for the bowling while blasting 19 fours and a six, all of which were brilliant cricketing shots.

The effort, however, was not enough to earn Sehwag a place in the 16-member squad for the Test series against Sri Lanka, announced earler in the day.

"I have to perform better to get into the Test side," was all Sehwag had to say about his exclusion.

A middle-order batsman, Sehwag said he is comfortable opening the innings too. "I will bat in any position that the team wants me to," he said.

Sehwag's maiden century was the seventh fastest in limited-overs cricket. However, he said he will not go for records and was not even aware of Mohammad Azharuddin's 56-ball hundred, which is the fastest by any Indian.

"I just kept playing my shots," he said.

Yuvraj Singh, who produced a similar match-winning knock against Sri Lanka the day before, said playing one's natural game is the key to success in one-day matches.

"We didn't put any pressure on ourselves and just played our shots," Yuvraj said. The left-handed all-rounder, who made a sensational debut against Australia in the ICC Knock-out tournament in Nairobi last year, has also been left out of the Test squad.

Yuvraj said he is not disappointed with the selectors' decision and is working on his bowling too to develop into a genuine all-rounder. He had a good outing in this tournament with the ball too and felt if he can contribute handsomely with the bat and ball while being an outstanding fielder, the selectors will not be able to ignore him for Tests for long.

After winning three successive pressure games, a relieved Indian team took a deserving break on Friday, ahead of the all-important final on Sunday.

"From the way we have won the last three matches, I can say we hope to win," team manager A N Mate said.

A group of underpriveleged children from a charitable institution in Ratmalana, a suburb of Colombo, visited the Indian team.

Mail Cricket Editor