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Rediff.com  » Sports » I enjoyed captaining the side: Sehwag

I enjoyed captaining the side: Sehwag

April 16, 2003 22:07 IST
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Having tasted success in his first match as captain, Virender Sehwag declared he would love to lead the side in future if given the opportunity.

"It's a great honour to lead the country. I am happy that I could win the first match. I will be happy to lead the team if I get the opportunity in the future," Sehwag said, after India defeated Bangladesh by four wickets to storm into the final of the TVS Cup triangular series in Dhaka.

"I am glad that I succeeded in whatever responsibility was given to me for this match. I really enjoyed captaining the team," he said.

The dashing opener said he felt quite relaxed right through the match.

"I did not feel any pressure of being the captain. I just played my natural game," he said.

The stand-in captain was full of praise for youngsters Gautam Gambhir, Avishkar Salvi, Amit Mishra and Sarandeep Singh. He said they have the potential to succeed at the highest level.

"I think it's good to give the youngsters a chance in such matches. They will learn by playing. I must say they all played very well."

Sehwag, who scored 43, dismissed suggestions that he is not concentrating hard enough to convert the good starts into big scores.

"I play my natural game and always try to get the big scores. It is not that I lose my concentration and get out after getting the starts."

He expressed disappointment with the fact that his side lost too many wickets towards the end after cruising along comfortably at one stage.

"That should not have happened. I think we were a bit casual and lost wickets in trying to get the runs quickly. But there was really no threat of losing the match."

Man-of-the-match Gautam Gambhir, who struck a sparkling 71, said it was a great feeling to score his first half century but was a bit disappointed that he could not stay till the end.

"Having settled down, I should have stayed till the finish. I need to keep working hard and score runs," he said.

The Delhi opener said there is a lot of difference between domestic cricket and international cricket and one has to learn to handle the pressure to succeed.

"There is pressure at the highest level even when playing against Bangladesh," he said.

Bangladesh captain Khaled Mahmud was happy that his team is showing signs of improvement but said there is a lot of hard work to be done before they can really compete with the stronger teams.

"It is good that we could reach the 200 mark for the second time. That should give us a lot of confidence. Our batting still needs a lot of improvement," Mahmud said.

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