Kolkata, Dec 25 (Inditop.com) A jubilant Indian stand-in captain Virender Sehwag Thursday night praised Virat Kohli and other youngsters in the team and said he was happy to finish the series in Kolkata.
“This team has lot of bench-strength. We did not have Yuvraj Singh and M.S. Dhoni in the team. It’s a good sign for India that the youngsters are playing well. Virat Kohli proved his worth,” he said after India successfully chased an imposing Sri Lankan total of 315/6 to win with seven wickets and 11 balls in hand at the Eden Gardens.
“We wanted to finish the game in Kolkata because here we had a good wicket to bat on. We don’t know what kind of wicket we will get in Delhi,” Sehwag said after clinching the five match series against Sri lanka.
Sehwag, who led the team at Cuttack and Kolkata following the two match ban slapped on regular captain M.S. Dhoni for slow over rate, said now the team will not be under any pressure in the fifth and last match in Delhi.
He added that faced with such a huge total, the Indian did not want to lose wickets.
“Our thinking was we should not lose wickets in the first ten overs. We had beaten Pakistan earlier at the Eden after putting up a big total. We knew the dew factor becomes important as the evening progresses. Them bowlers cannot spin or swing the ball. They have problems in gripping also”.
“So we thought if we do not lose early wickets, we can finish off the game. We lost two, but then Kohli and Gambhir finished it off”.
Kohli and Gambhir added 224 runs for the thrid wicket, a record at the Eden, to lead India to victory after the side got an initial jolt with the cheap dismissals of Sehwag and Gambhir.
Lavishing praise on Kohli, he said: “He is a very talented player. Now he is performing well”.
Sehwag said the flowering of players like Kohli, Suresh Raina and Ravindra Jdeja augured well for India ahead of the 2011 World Cup in India. “if we play at full strength we can win also in 2011”.
Sehwag did not think his side had a problem bowling at the death. “Sri Lanka batted very well. But our bowlers also put up a good performance”.
On the Delhi batsmen like him, Gambhir and Kohli doing well for India, Sehwag said that the players of his state were earlier doing well in domestic competitions, but have now carried their good show to the international stage. “Delhi players are very hungry for runs. When hey get the chance they try to perform. Earlier Gambhir did, now Virat is also doing that”.
