The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Sehwag frittered away advantage

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jun 01, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Sport

Sport - Cricket

Sehwag frittered away advantage

Special Correspondent

Mumbai: Delhi Daredevils’ Virender Sehwag can be faulted for not taking full advantage of winning the toss in the semifinal against Rajasthan Royals on Friday.

The Wankhede Stadium curator, Sudhir Naik, had prepared a pitch that was not likely to assist the conventional seamers in any way. The BCCI’s Pitch and Grounds Committee members Daljit Singh and Dhiraj Parsana also believed that the wicket would produce runs.

The Royals captain, Shane Warne, was more eager to know about Sehwag’s decision than the Match Referee, Javagal Srinath. Warne did not waste time in informing his teammates that they would be batting first.

“The match was never in our hands. After the first three overs their openers took away the match. If we had batted well we could have consoled ourselves that at least we tried. The middle order once again failed,” said Sehwag.

Sehwag did not like Graeme Smith being given a runner. “I told and reminded the umpires that Smith was playing his first match recovering from a hamstring. It was the umpires’ decision (Rudy Koertzen and Billy Bowden) to give a runner (Mohammad Kaif). It was not mine,” revealed Sehwag.

Thereafter Warne said Smith pulled it (hamstring) in a different spot. It took one week for the earlier one to heal. “It will be very disappointing if he’s not fit for the final,” said Warne.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport