His confidence sky high after cracking two centuries in the current one-day series against New Zealand, flamboyant opener Virender Sehwag today said he was ready to dominate the best of the bowlers at the World Cup and was afraid of none of them. “I fear no reputation. Indeed I would say I haven’t faced any bowler who could be termed outstanding,” said the hard-hitting batsman who has decimated attacks worldwide with his belligerent strokeplay. While the other top batsmen have struggled to get past 20 on this current tour of New Zealand, Sehwag has already hit two centuries in his inimitable style and he said he was not going to curb his attacking instincts. “When I bat, I don’t get bothered who is in front of me. I am more concerned with how to play my shots and when to play them,” said Sehwag who now has 295 runs at an average of 49.17 from six matches in the one-day series, more than double of next highest scorer Matthew Sinclair’s 143. “If a batsman gets conscious about the bowler, he will not be able to bat. I am not conscious of the bowler - whether it is (Glenn) McGrath or (Shane) Bond or Shoaib Akhtar.” He said the games in World Cup were like any other match and he was very confident of doing well in South Africa. “I have no preparation for the World Cup. I am only looking at the next match (last one-dayer against New Zealand). But having scored hundreds on these diffficult wickets, I think I can go and get even bigger scores on other wickets,” he said. “I am happy I would be going to the World Cup but there is no excitement. For me they are just normal matches,” Sehwag said. For a man who played all his first-class cricket as a middle-order batsman, Sehwag has done really well to cement his place as an opener in both formats of the game. He looked back at the tour of Sri Lanka in 2001 when he opened the innings for the first time in the tri-series, also involving New Zealand, in Sachin Tendulkar’s absence. “It was a tour on which Tendulkar was missing. Saurav Ganguly had already tried four different partners in the series. He asked me if I would open in the next two games. I have never been an opener so I said it should not happen that if I do not score in the two games then I am dropped. The coach and the captain said nothing of this sort would happen. They said if you don’t succeed, we would again put you back in the middle order.” However, Sehwag came out blazing in the role of an opener in the tri-series and smashed New Zealand bowlers to all parts of the ground to score a century off just 69 balls with 19 fours and a six. It marked the turning point in his one-day career. “Frankly, I just love to bat. It does not matter whether I am opening or batting at number seven,” he said. Recounting another memorable knock, Sehwag said the hundred he scored against England at Nottingham earlier this year had given him a lot of confidence to bat on seaming wickets. “I gained a lot of confidence by scoring a hundred in Nottingham. I thought if I could get it on this seaming track, I could get it anywhere. I came here thinking the wicket would be same as in Nottingham. But these are very different tracks. Much more difficult and seaming than the one in Nottingham,” Sehwag said. Sehwag said he was also not bothered about criticism from experts that he did not have a good front-foot play. “I am not bothered by criticism. It does not matter what they are saying because I know I have to score my runs all by myself. I am also not upset on comments on my front-foot play. At present it is enough. But then every batsman has some strength or weakness.” Sehwag’s fitness is much-talked about in Indian dressing room these days and according to fitness charts, he has shown the most improvement. “Everyone in the team is working on his fitness. We realise if we are fit, the fielding standards of the team would improve.” Sehwag’s favourite hundreds are the ones against South Africa at Blomfontein in Tests and the recent one at Auckland in One-day Internationals.(PTI)
