Stand-in captain Virender Sehwag expressed surprise over Mahendra Singh Dhoni's remarks that he, Sachin Tendulkar and Gautam Gambhir would cost the team 20 runs on the field if they played together in an ODI.
Sehwag said after India's 51-run defeat at the hands of Sri Lanka here on Tuesday, “I do not know what he said to the media. He chatted with all three of us and told us that he wanted to give a chance on these pitches to the youngsters who would be playing in the next World Cup here in 2015. That's what he told us. He never talked to us about our fielding. You have to ask Dhoni again.”
Sehwag pointed out his brilliant catch that sent back Mahela Jayawardene in this game and added, “Did you see my catch? We have been fielding the same way for the last 10 years.”
The opener also made it clear that he had no disagreement with Dhoni. “He is the captain and the leader and can say what he wishes to the media. If he and the coach think they need to give a break to the top order, it is fine with me.”
Sehwag said, “We have to rotate the players and give opportunities to the youngsters. I have no problems with it. From my side, I am available for all the matches. The captain and the coach have to pick the eleven. The team is one unit, it is one happy family.”
Dwelling on off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin's run out appeal against Lahiru Thirimanne after the Sri Lankan had backed up too much, he said, “I think Ashwin warned him in the previous over. He appealed after removing the bails and then the umpires discussed.”
Sehwag revealed, “The umpires asked me. Billy Bowden said ‘it's your call now, if you appeal now, we can give him out.' I took the decision that we could give Thirimanne one more warning. If he had been given out then people would say it was not in the spirit of the game. So we gave him one more warning. It might have been ‘soft' but that's the way we are.”
The opener said the side's batting had let the team down on Tuesday. “It's a matter of playing 50 overs. If Raina and Kohli had batted till the 45th over, it would have been a different story. Nobody batted till the end.”
Sehwag said he would have to look at his own shot-selection. He added the side missed Dhoni in this game.
Zaheer Khan, Sehwag said, had a calf strain. Asked why Vinay Kumar did not bowl towards the end, Sehwag replied, “he pulled a hamstring.”
On Ricky Ponting being dropped from the ODIs, Sehwag said, “If you do not perform in six or seven games, you get the sack. It is the same with everybody. But we were hoping, as a team, that he had been sacked before the Test series.”
Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene said the side did well to keep wickets in hand and launch into the bowling in the final stages. “I think we paced our innings well,” he said.
He complimented his pacemen. “I think they were brilliant upfront. Two white balls are being used and there is plenty of encouragement for them in these conditions. We have attacked and kept the field up. We have not given away easy singles. But we made some mistakes. Hopefully, we would not make them in the bigger games.”
On Ashwin's run-out appeal against Thirimanne, Jayawardene observed, “I don't play like that. I wouldn't have got the bails off in the first place. Probably, our guy (Thirimanne) was at fault as well to be honest. At the end of the day, it was the spirit of the game that won,” said Jayawardene.
Jayawardene was not sure about Ashwin warning Thirimanne as claimed by Sehwag. “When was he warned? I think you should ask the umpires if he was warned.”
