'I didn't think about the double-century' - Sehwag

Virender Sehwag might have taken extra care to make sure he batted deep into India's innings at Mirpur, but when it comes to his press conferences, middle overs continue to remain conspicuous in their absence. He talks like he bats, and after his 175 - his longest one-day innings in terms of runs, balls faced, and overs elapsed - his reaction was: "I am happy that at least once in my career I have batted 47 overs." That was followed by a warning: "I was planning to bat 50 overs. I couldn't do that, but hopefully I will do so in coming games."

That came moments after a similarly forthright show at the presentation ceremony, where he said, "Everyone did well, other than Sreesanth." He also said this was a grudge match after India's defeat to Bangladesh in the 2007 World Cup, something not many like to admit. He also maintained that Bangladesh are not a good Test side. "They can compete in ODIs, but today they could not."

Inside the press-conference room, the fun continued. The mix-up with Sachin Tendulkar, which resulted in the latter's run-out, was delightfully explained. "We discussed we will take it easy on singles," Sehwag said. "He was calling, and I was not listening, and I was looking at the ball, yeah. For a fraction of a second I thought I had made a mistake, but you know when I went to the dressing room, he said, 'It's okay. What's important is to win the game for the country. It's not important who is performing.'"

In Christchurch, in 2009, when Tendulkar retired hurt on 163 at the end of the 45th over, Sehwag told him he had missed out on a double-century. At 175 in the 47th over, Sehwag said he himself didn't think of that mark. "Not at all. When he came back not out, eight or nine overs were left. When I came back, three overs were left, and I still had 25 to get. I would have had to play 15 out of those 18 balls, so I wasn't thinking of the double-hundred. My target was to bat 50 overs, no matter how much I score."

His own innings, Sehwag termed the most satisfactory "as far as overs are concerned". It was obviously a conscious effort to play a longer innings, and take fewer chances. One of the bigger challenges of such innings is the middle overs, when fields are spread. Sehwag said his plan was to concentrate on taking singles. "It was easy for me to rotate the strike. I think I hit a six on 49, and after that till 75 or 80 I was just rotating the strike because I knew I had to play 30-40 overs, and if I do that I would get a hundred. Still my strike rate was more than 100."

There was praise for the other centurion, Virat Kohli, and not just hollow praise, but analytical appreciation. "Whenever we spoke in the middle, we told each other to not throw our wickets away. I still remember against Pakistan in the Champions Trophy [in Centurion, in 2009], he was playing well, but he played a shot straight to long-off. After that he has scored six hundreds. Sometimes a little nudge is enough for some people. He is a quick learner, and a mature batsman."

The last question to him was if he feels any pressure from the pundits that he is most crucial to India's prospects in the World Cup. Sehwag's dead-pan reply was, "My job is to play and make runs." 

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Srikkanth Cries after LBW

Pak need good batsmen: former captains

Karachi: Pakistan's continuing poor form against South Africa in the ongoing series in the UAE has drawn stinging criticism from former captains who feel the team desperately needs good batsmen.

South Africa swept aside Pakistan by eight wickets in the first one-day international in Abu Dhabi on Friday after outclassing Shahid Afridi's men in the two Twenty20 matches earlier in the week.

"Definitely the batting is letting the bowlers down. The batting is just not good enough and they are not putting up enough runs for the bowlers to defend," former captain Asif Iqbal said.

Iqbal also felt that Afridi's poor form was having a negative effect on the team's overall performance.

"I think Shahid has to pick up his performance because he has to lead by example and it is the job of the team management and coach to motivate and lift the players in these circumstances," the former captain said.

Despite the return of former captain Younus Khan to the team and his scoring a half century, Pakistan were bowled out for just 203 runs.

Former captain Javed Miandad felt that the team needs to show more purpose and planning.

"There is no purpose in the way they are approaching the matches. The batsmen are playing without a plan and that is why they are struggling to get big scores," he said

Miandad said the players just need to learn the art of staying at the wicket and putting a high value on their wicket.

Another former captain Aamir Sohail said he was disappointed with the role of the team's coaching staff.

"Where is the coaching/support staff. What is their job description?" he asked.

"Nowadays in modern day cricket it is clear that the role of the support staff is very important and plays a big part in any team's success or defeat. But in our team I don't know what is happening, the players are playing without any plan at all."

Batting great Zaheer Abbas said the players need to realise that they are putting the future of cricket in Pakistan at stake with their shoddy performances.

"We have been playing badly since last year and and with all these controversies people are now becoming disheartened.

These constant changes in the team and the controversies outside the field are also affecting the team's ability to play good solid and sensible cricket," Zaheer said.

Former leg-spinner Abdul Qadir said it was unfortunate but the national team was not moving forward because of the strange policies of the cricket board.

"South Africa is a top team but on a pitch which was good for batting and where conditions were ideal for us and we even won the toss, how can you justify getting out for just 203 runs.

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Sachin's bat auctioned for Rs. 42 lakh

Mumbai: Indian batting icon Sachin Tendulkar's willow fetched the highest bid of Rs. 42 lakh at a glittering sports auction here that saw personal items donated by 25 top sportspersons from the country and overseas go under the hammer.

The champion batsman had scored an unbeaten 163 against New Zealand at Christchurch last year, his fourth highest one day score, with this bat.

Tied at second spot was the rifle used by India's only individual Olympic gold medallist, shooter Abhinav Bindra, when creating history at the Beijing Games two years ago and the bat of Rahul Dravid, with which he had scored a century in each innings in the Kolkata Test of 2005 against Pakistan.

Both were successfully bid for Rs. 20 lakh.

The bat signed by all team members of the 1983 World Cup winning team, donated by Sunil Gavaskar, went under the hammer for Rs. 17.5 lakh.

Anil Kumble's jersey that he wore when he equalled Jim Laker's record of ten wickets in a Test innings against Pakistan in New Delhi in 1999 and his Test cap that he wore between 2004 and 2006 went for Rs 11.5 lakh.

Among the other items auctioned off were Swiss tennis legend Roger Federer's shoes and sports gear donated by Indian top racquet sports exponents - Shuttler Saina Nehwal and tennis player Sania Mirza.

Doners Dravid, Kumble, tennis ace Leander Paes, national football captain Baichung Bhutia, 1974 hockey World Cup winning skipper Ajit Pal Singh, former hockey captain Viren Rasquinha and Bindra were present at the auction last night.

Leander's 12th Grand Slam winning racquet at Wimbledon this year in mixed doubles was the second piece to be auctioned and received a bid of Rs. 7 lakhs.

Also gracing the function were world champion wrestler and Delhi Commonwealth Games gold medallist Sushil Kumar and hockey great Dhanraj Pillay.

The auction was held by Non Government Organisation The Foundation founded by actor and ex-rugby international player Rahul Bose in association with Raheja Universal and the proceeds were donated to Bose's NGO.

The donors and items that went under the hammer were:

Pankaj Advani: Medal - World Billiards Champion, 2007; Cue, International debut, 2002.

Viswanathan Anand: Medal - World Chess (Match) Champion, 2008.

Mahesh Bhupathi: Racquet - Mixed Doubles Champion, Australian Open, 2009.

Baichung Bhutia: Jersey - signed by Zinedine Zidane, Luis Figo, Baichung Bhutia and others worn at the International Charity Match for Haiti earthquake, 2010.

Abhinav Bindra: Rifle - World Champion, 2006; World record; Olympic Record.

Rahul Dravid: Bat - Century in each Test innings vs Pakistan, Kolkata, 2005.

Anil Kumble: Test Jersey - 10 wickets in an innings vs Pakistan, New Delhi, 1999; Test cap, 2004 to 2006.

Sania Mirza: Racquet - Wimbledon, 2010.

Saina Nehwal: Racquet - Singapore Open Super Series, Indonesian Open Super Series, Indian Open Grand Prix, all 2010; Gold Medal, Indian Open, 2010.

Sachin Tendulkar: Bat - 163 vs New Zealand, Christchurch, 2009, fourth highest one-day score.

Virender Sehwag: Batting gloves, 125 vs New Zealand, 2009, fastest one-day hundred by an Indian.

Kapil Dev: Bat - signed by 1983 World Cup winning squad.

Sunil Gavaskar: Bat - signed by 1983 World Cup winning squad.

Leander Paes: Racquet - Mixed Doubles Champion, Wimbledon 2010.

Viren Rasquinha: Hockey stick - bronze medal, Asian Games, Busan, 2002; India blazer, Asian Games, Busan, 2002.

Geet Sethi: World Professional Billiards trophy, 1992. Cue - World Billiards Championship, 2007; World Snooker Championship, 2008.

Prakash Padukone: Silver edal - Japan Open, 1981.

Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi: Debut India blazer vs England, 1961; retiring India blazer vs West Indies, 1975.

Ajitpal Singh: Hockey stick exchanged with Pakistan captain Islahuddin - World Cup Final, 1975.

Vijay Amritraj: Tennis racquet, tennis balls.

Roger Federer (courtesy Globosport): Tennis shoes - winner, Cincinnati Open, 2010.

Diego Forlan (courtesy Mahuaa TV): Football - 2010.

Ricky Ponting (courtesy Dhiraj Malhotra): Gold Medal - World Cup, 2007.

Maria Sharapova (courtesy Akshay Kulkarni): Racquet - 2010

Shane Warne (courtesy Rahul Bose): Retiring Cricket Victoria shirt - 2008.

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Sachin on cricket's past, present, future

London: Move aside the Glenn McGraths and Muttiah Muralitharans, the only bowler who has tested Sachin Tendulkar to an extent that the Indian batting icon "didn't know what to do" while facing him was stunningly the late Hansie Cronje.

The ex-South African captain, who died in a plane-crash after being banned for match-fixing, was the one man Tendulkar found hard to deal with and bowling technique had nothing to do with it.

"Honestly. I got out to Hansie more than anyone. When we played South Africa, he always got me out more than Allan Donald or Shaun Pollock. It wasn't that I couldn't pick him. It's just that the ball seemed to go straight to a fielder," Tendulkar told The Guardian.

Cronje, primarily a middle-order batsman, was efficient with his medium pace, fetching 43 wickets in 68 Tests and 114 ODI wickets in 188 matches before his spectacular fall from grace owing to the 2000 match-fixing scandal in which he was the prime accused. He died in a plane-crash in 2002.

Tendulkar said facing Cronje was always a tricky proposition for him.

"I was going great guns in Durban one year and played some big shots against Donald and Pollock. Hansie came on and I flicked his first ball straight to leg-slip. I never knew what to do with him," he said.

Tendulkar once again named McGrath as the best fast bowler he ever faced and despite dominating Shane Warne, the Indian icon considered the Aussie to be the best spinner he came across.

"I did okay against him (McGrath). But, among the spinners, Warne at his best was still something special," he said.

The 37-year-old batsman, who has spent over 20 years in international cricket, is often compared to Sir Don Bradman and Tendulkar recalled some special moments he spent with the late Australian legend.

"We went to see him on his 90th birthday. It was very special. We were talking about averages and I said, 'Sir Don, if you were playing today, what would you have averaged?' And he said, '70, probably.' I asked, 'Why 70 and not your actual average of 99?' Bradman said, 'Come on, an average of 70 is not bad for a 90-year-old man.'

"This is what I tell my son. Whether you're an 11-year-old boy or Don Bradman, we should never forget it's just a game we can all enjoy."

His passion for the sport is well-documented and Tendulkar said even after spending over two decades in the international arena, he tries to re-invent himself.

"I'm really focusing now on how I can get to the next level as a batsman. How can I get even more competitive? How can I get even more consistent? How can I get better?" Tendulkar pointed out.

The diminutive batsman said going past the 14,000-run mark earlier this year was one of the big moments of his career but he never lets the thoughts of achieving milestones overshadow what is actually required of him in a match situation.

"It was a big moment...But I was most aware of the match situation," said the right-hander who had arrived at the wicket with India 38 for two in reply to Australia's first innings of 478.

"And then it flashed on the big screen that I needed eight runs to reach 14,000. Every run I scored was cheered.

But when I needed two, I hit a boundary. I was happy but I thought, 'right, now we can get back to focusing on cricket', because everyone had become too worried about those eight runs. It had taken away my focus."

"Yes, obviously going past Brian Lara was something special. But I'm even happier now and hopefully it continues."

Talking about the changing face of the game, Tendulkar said Australia are in decline after retirements of their heavyweights.

"To not have Hayden, Langer, Gilchrist, McGrath, Warne, it's a big loss. They still have some world-class players but their batting revolves around (Ricky) Ponting. When you want to create a vacuum in their batting you need to get Ponting," he said.

Tendulkar feels given Australia's loss of aura, England are serious contenders to lift the Ashes this time.

"I think England have a better chance. I favour them slightly. I would say Morgan could be the key performer in the Ashes. Morgan and Swann," he said.

"He (Morgan) is a very solid player who can control the pace of his innings. He can become a really good Test batsman even though he has only played a few Tests so far. After Morgan, you've got the experience of Strauss, Collingwood and Pietersen. They're a really well-balanced side and this is a great opportunity for England," he added.

India is one of the co-hosts of next year's World Cup and Tendulkar said the pressure would be of an altogether different level.

"It's going to be massive. Everyone in India is looking forward to a mega tournament and although people haven't started talking yet about 1983 (the last time India won the World Cup), it will happen soon. But given our recent form, people have a right to be excited and have extremely high hopes," he said.

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