Sport Today

Sehwag's target for finals: 100 off 36 balls

AHMED ABBAS RIZVI

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

OLOMBO: ``I am in a dream world right now,'' says a beaming Virender
Sehwag. The shy, soft-spoken man with amiable and immaculate manners
from Delhi has an endearing smile that has turned contagious.
`Turbanator' Harbhajan Singh, who was brooding after the three
successive defeats, is laughing and cracking jokes again.

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The exuberance of Reetinder Singh Sodhi is back. And Yuvraj Singh, whose
innocence was snatched away by the harsh and unforgiving world of
professionals, is at peace with himself again. The very atmosphere in
the Indian camp has changed. There's a smile on every face and a twinkle
in the eyes that says all's well. The whole team is living a dream and
waiting with quiet confidence for `D Day'.

Immediately after his return to the hotel on Thursday, after making that
hurricane 69-ball 100, Shewag had treated the entire team to a huge
cake. There can be no doubt that room-mate Yuvraj Singh had the largest
share. And then he got this message from Sachin Tendulkar: "Great
innings. Congratulations. I hope that you will not disappoint me in the
final.'' And it is this very message that has now become Sehwag's
inspiration for the final.

``I cannot believe that the great Tendulkar congratulated me,'' says
Sehwag rather modestly. ``To tell you frankly, it is like a dream for
me. When I used to watch all these people play, I used to think whether
I would be able to play like them. And today, I am sharing the same
dressing room with them. I just want this dream to continue,'' he adds.

And he wants this dream to continue into the final. ``I want to perform
well in the final too. We have not won a final in three years. But this
time, I am sure we will go back home with the trophy,'' he says.

Yuvraj, sitting by his side, nods in agreement. ``We are happy that we
could perform well and help India reach the final. Par je, hamari mehnat
tabhi rang layage jab hum title jeetenge,'' he says.

``Final mein dekhna aap, Sehwag 36-ball mein century banayage,'' says
Yuvraj as both laugh.

``Bahut ho gaya, yeh baar to pakka jeetna hai,'' chips in Sodhi as
`Bhajji' Harbhajan turns around and smiles before turning his attention
back to the television where the movie Gadar is playing.

``I want to win the title and dedicate it to my parents,'' adds Sehwag.

Saurav Ganguly must be lucky to have men of such indomitable spirit at
his side. Men who turn gloom to cheerfulness with their sheer
exuberance. And just looking at them, your heart tells you that the days
of glory for India are not far away.

Like I mentioned before, Shewag is in cloud nine
after scoring the hundred in 69 balls. This is the
way Indian cricket is, the higher you think you are
the faster the downfall. The press is showering all
the praises and contracts and endor***ts are on
their way and why not, even a movie role!

One has to realize that it is not possible for
any international batsmen to sustain strike rates
of 90+ for long periods of time successfully.

But you need to be positive frame of mind going into
the final and the spirits are high.

Nikhil [expecting a possible disastor in the finals] Shah

We indians are an optimistic bunch, aren't we.

Come, come, how can we believe this? Surely it must have been Shewag who ate
the most?  Luckily, Sachin wasnt around... could have seen who had the better
strike rate when it came to woofing down slices of cake!
Hmmmm, caaaake!

Yes, you are right there, I had seen a posting you made about this
yesterday. Interesting to see the same thing come up in the news. Sehwag
should try his best to keep himself tied to the ground like SRT always
has. Thats probably been instrumental in his success unlike his probably
equally talented buddy Kambli who let success get to his head. Sehwag
should stop making dumb ass comments like Shoaib 'I will hit 100 mph in
WC99' Akthar. Where is Shoaib after 2 years? No where.