Zeenews Bureau
Chennai, March 28: India master batsman Virender Sehwag looked like a relived and happy man. Back in form in style, he had every reason to feel so, as he had slammed the fastest triple century in the history of Test cricket.
He also has become the third batsman to score a triple ton on two occasions, a feat achieved only by Brian Lara and Sir Don Bradman.
Addressing a press conference after the end of third day’s play of the first Test match against South Africa, Sehwag said, “I was reminding myself of where I come from. It becomes very difficult for the captain to set a field for such a wicket, and even we faced the same problems when Amla was batting.”
He added, “Your performance matters in the end and its up to the media and people to add sobriquets to my name.”
When asked about his effort getting close to Lara’s world record of 400, he said, “I wasn’t thinking about Lara, Anil (Kumble) told me to just go out and play till the end. Hopefully we’ll get some result when our spinners come, for the time being, I’ll just rest.”
On being enquired about his strategy, he revealed, “I tried to play session by session, when I get closer to a big mark I think about it.”
He also talked about the playing conditions in Chennai and commented, “It is very difficult to play in Chennai as it is very humid, but thanks to my physio and colleagues who got me the right fluids when I needed them, I am pretty fresh now.”
He rated the innings as his best saying, “This innings better than Multan, as I was scoring faster than a run a ball here. Moreover, the conditions in Multan were better so it was easier for me back there. It doesn’t matter if I didn’t score a century in each session.”
“If there is a ball to be hit…I’ll hit it even if I’m on the verge of a major milestone”
On being asked about how it was to be out of action for a long time he said, “I was very hurt when I was dropped, I had a very good record earlier too…I just wanted to prove myself, but it is all in the past and if you want to be in the team in the present you have to perform everytime.”
He also defended Dravid’s slow scoring rate by adding, “Rahul has his own style and he will bat the way he wants, its good for us.”
Sehwag dedicated the triple ton to his father and family and added that the behemoth score had just whetted his appetite, “It might be my destiny to score a 400!”, he quipped optimistically.
Rounding up the conference on the positive note that it started on, he signed off by saying, “We have a good chance of winning this one, and our plan was to bat for as long as possible and hopefully we will get a big score on the board tomorrow.”
