On the day before the big semifinal against Shane Warne's Rajasthan Royals, the Delhi Daredevils captain handled each question thrown at him with absolute simplicity.
Delhi Daredevils skipper Virender Sehwag says he will not think twice before opting to field MUMBAI: What's endearing about Virender Sehwag is that he believes in no complications — in his batting, his captaincy or even handling a forceful media in a stuffy room with no air-condition.
On the day before the big semifinal against Shane Warne's Rajasthan Royals, the Delhi Daredevils captain handled each question thrown at him with absolute simplicity. No subtlety, no mind games, no read between the lines - just plain and simple Viru.
That the Delhi Daredevils are in the last four, as much due to good cricket as to a little bit of good fortune in close matches, Viru was quick to admit. "We have played good cricket in this tournament. Every team needs a little bit of luck. We had that in big close matches. I think our preparation is very good. Having played a few close matches, we are well prepared.”
There was also no fear of the opposition, who have been the best and most consistent team in the competition by far. Shane Warne-led Royals have 11 of their quota of 14 matches, losing three.
The Daredevils played their opening match of the tournament against the Royals beating them convincingly by 9 wickets with 29 balls to spare. But that was before, Warne waved his magic wand and turned the rank outsiders into tournament favourites. “We have played the Rajasthan Royals twice — we won one and they won one. I think we are evenly matched.
We have our plans in place for the semifinal. The important thing is to execute them out in the middle, which hopefully we can do on Friday. We have international players in our ranks. Glenn McGrath, Farveez Mahroof, Gautam Gambhir - all of them are international stars and know what it takes to play in a big game like this.”
Sehwag also made it clear that if he wins the toss at the tricky wicket of the Wankhede Stadium on Friday, he will not think twice before opting to field. “The Mumbai wicket has something in it for the bowlers in the first innings and tends to ease out during the second. Since both us and the Jaipur team have world class bowlers in our ranks, the idea will be to win the toss and bowl first.”
The only concern for the Delhi captain is the middle order. The opener also said he was sure the Mumbaikars will come in big numbers to support both the teams and hopefully they will be entertained by the two teams. Let’s drink — a glass of milk — to that.
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