We do not want to lose the Test: Sehwag

Virender Sehwag defended his shot selection on the fourth day of the first Test. Sehwag pursued a wide delivery from left-arm paceman Chanaka Welegedara to be dismissed soon after his century at a critical stage of the Indian first innings.

The dashing opener said, “Around 3,000 of my 7,000 odd runs in Test cricket have come from the cut shot. I don't think it was a mistake to play the shot.”

However, he did admit that the Indian batsmen did not exactly cover themselves with glory here.

“We also know that we could have played better, executed certain shots better. There are a lot of batsmen in this line-up like Sachin (Tendulkar), Rahul (Dravid), Laxman, and Gautam (Gambhir) who have batted for long periods. It did not happen in the first innings here. It's hard to control things sometimes. We do not want to lose a Test match.”

CRUCIAL STAND

Looking back at the Sri Lankan innings, he said the century partnership between Rangana Herath and Lasith Malinga had taken the match away from India.

“The long stand between Malinga and Herath cost us as they put on more than 100 runs. If that had not happened, we could have avoided the follow-on and things would have been different.”

Sehwag hoped V.V.S. Laxman and Mahendra Singh Dhoni would still save the Test for India. He also hoped for rain. There was a sharp shower here soon after the conclusion of day four.

About Muttiah Muralitharan's bowling, he said, “Murali is always a difficult bowler. He is difficult and you cannot plan against him. He is a great bowler.”

He revealed that the Indians had not complained when Malinga bowled under fading light. “Nobody was complaining against Malinga bowling in fading light. We were only discussing the light.”

STRIVING HARD

Sri Lankan coach Trevor Bayliss said, “It was up to Murali when he would retire from Test cricket. But the good thing was that he did not want to take it easy in his last Test and strove at the nets to perform well.”

Bayliss added, “Murali bowled as many as overs in the nets as he had done before in the previous 132 Tests. He knows how his body feels. He has obviously made his decision. It was the first time I saw him with a bit of emotion after taking five wickets (Wednesday) and throwing his arms in the air. We all hope that he can finish it off on Thursday as well.”

Asked about Sri Lanka always doing well in home conditions, he said,

“Well, home conditions do help. It helped India when Sri Lankan toured last season. Obviously, we wanted to use the conditions better. We know them.”

Bayliss lauded Malinga's bowling. “Malinga's return to Test cricket has helped the side. He is the number one fast bowler for us now. His return is a big bonus for us.”