Sehwag credits bowlers for the win

By Rahul Bajaj
for Cricketain.com

Published: January 22, 2010

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Chittagong: India’s stand-in captain Virender Sehwag lavished praise on his bowlers for bowling Bangladesh out cheaply in both innings to ensure a convincing 113-run win for the tourists in the first test of the two match series.

Sehwag said that after India were bowled out for just 243 in the first innings, it was important not to let Bangladesh take a lead and the Indian bowlers ensured that, restricting Bangladesh to 242 in the first innings.

“It’s nice to have a win in pocket. We were charged up after Bangladesh bowled us out under 250 in the first innings. The bowlers did a terrific job by not letting them take lead,” Sehwag said after the match. “Zaheer (Khan) and Ishant (Sharma) were outstanding with the new ball. Both Ishant and Zaheer were quick and got appreciable bounce from the wicket.”

The Indian bowlers were at it again in the second innings too, bowling the home team out for 301. Sehwag said that India would have to play consistently well if they desired to remain the number one Test team. “We have to play good cricket all throughout if we have to stay at the number one spot,” Sehwag said.

Man of the Match Sachin Tendulkar also lauded the Indian bowlers for not allowing Bangladesh to dominate the match. “The bowlers fought back nicely and got them out for 242 (in the first innings), which was terrific,” Tendulkar said.

He also added that his 44th Test century in India’s first innings was a special knock since it came when his team needed it the most. “The century was an important one because we lost wickets at that stage after a good opening partnership. The conditions were little difficult because the spinners were in action and the ball was also not coming onto the bat,” said Tendulkar, whose unbeaten 105 pulled India out of the hole in the first innings.

Bangladesh captain, Shakib Al-Hasan, meanwhile, rued a missed opportunity for Bangladesh, saying that his team had a great chance of seizing the initiative in the first innings while blaming the batsmen for squandering away the advantage.

“We didn’t bat well in the first innings. We played too many rash shots. Although the bowlers did a fantastic job in the first innings, we need to improve in all departments,” Shakib said. “We thought we had a great chance of taking a lead of 100 runs in the first innings but some rash shots did us in.”

The Bangladesh skipper, however, praised wicket-keeper batsman Mushfiqur Rahim, who struck a defiant 101 in the second innings to reduce the margin of defeat.

“He played really well, he played some fantastic shots. He is capable of scoring big,” Shakib said.

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