KP, Jayawardene allow me to play strokes, says Virender Sehwag

Delhi Daredevils skipper Virender Sehwag has said presence of Kevin Pietersen and Mahela Jayawardene allowed him to play his natural game against Chennai Super Kings.

After an embarrassing performance in the opening two games, Sehwag was under pressure. Being the most senior player in the side, he was bound to performance in the big game against Chennai.

He rose to the occasion and played a magnificent 33-run-knock to guide Delhi a convincing eight-wicket win at Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium in Delhi. The Sehwag-led outfit played first two matches without its two big guns, Pietersen and Jayawardene.

Both veteran players were performing their national duties before reaching India just before the game against Chennai. Their inclusion enhanced Delhi’s strength to a great extent, and Sehwag was delighted to have them in the line-up.

"We’ve some international class and the team has been boosted by the return of KP and Mahela. As a result of that, I can play freely. I know that they are there in the line-up," Sehwag said.

He added, "Our bowlers did a fantastic job, started off really well up front and the left-arm spinners took off from there.”

On the other hand, the losing skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni admitted that his players were unable to perform to their potential.

"We are not playing good cricket. We have to be more consistent and look to play good cricket. We posted a below-par score. The wicket behaved well in the second half. We were looking to have a left and right combination but the run-outs never let us get
that right. One more aspect is that games such as these test the character of the side," he said after the game.

Morne Morkel scooped ‘Player of the Match’ award for his wonderful bowling effort. He grabbed two crucial wickets to put Chennai under immense pressure. On his team’s thumping performance, he shared:

"It was a home game for us and we got off to a good start. The groundsmen have to be complimented for putting up a good wicket. I was under pressure to bowl to a powerhouse of a Chennai batting line-up."

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=18612

Posted by Rana Nasir Ghafoor on Apr 11 2012. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry