While the entire country was praying for India's victory in Tuesday's see-saw series opener, Man of the Match Virender Sehwag said he was actually supporting Sri Lanka in the high-scoring humdinger.
“I was not tense at all because I was supporting Sri Lanka,” Sehwag said after India staved off Sri Lanka's spirited response to eke out a narrow three-run win.
“I've this superstition that whenever I support India, we lose. So I was supporting Sri Lanka here and was never tense,” explained Sehwag, who hammered a 102-ball 146 with 17 fours and six sixes in it.
In reply to India's highest ODI total of 414 for seven, Sri Lanka were going steady at 401 for five in 48 overs before they lost the plot and could not score the 11 runs required from the last over.
On his personal form, Sehwag said he was trying to bring his ODI record at par with his Test batting and was ready to show restraint early in his innings before going berserk.
“I am in good form. I scored 200 in Tests, 50 in Twenty20 and was telling myself I am in good form I have to utilise it. I knew I have to be careful in the first 10-15 overs and then it would be my day when I can score 100 or more. I have been scoring big centuries in Test matches but was getting out for 40s and 50s in ODIs. I thought it's time to convert those starts into big knocks,” he explained.
“When Sachin and I were batting, we thought the pitch is good and we can easily cruise to 350. Then MS (Dhoni, who struck a 53-ball 72) really batted well and took the pressure off me by clearing the ropes now and then,” Sehwag said.
With Tillakaratne Dilshan (160), Upul Tharanga (67) and Kumar Sangakkara (90) leading Sri Lanka's reply, fortune often fluctuated and even Dhoni, often called ‘Mr Cool' for his unflappable nature, felt it was getting tense.
“It's quite tough to be cool when you score 400 and almost lose it,” Dhoni said. “In the first 35 overs, we were not really up to the mark. Maybe we just accepted that the wicket had got better or maybe we were not focussed. But the way we bowled and fielded after that, was awesome. Also we could have scored 450, which would have been an ‘above-par' score,” he said.
"It is my best knock in one-day internationals. It is better than the 130 I made earlier," the Delhi dasher said in the post-match press conference after India beat Sri Lanka by three runs.
Sehwag was all praise for the pitch which produced 825 runs and said it also had something for the bowlers as was shown by Indian bowlers Ashish Nehra and Zaheer Khan to stop the surging Lanka at 411 fro eight.
"One-day cricket is batsman's game. It was a very good one-day wicket. Yet Ashish Nehra bowled 28 to 30 yorkers in his last five overs and Zaheer also bowled a lot of yorkers. That helped us win in the end," said the opener who struck 17 fours and six sixes.
"But when Tendulkar and I were batting we thought we could reach 350 as the wicket was that good. But then when I and MS Dhoni got together to raise the 300 in the 32nd over we felt we could get 400," he said.
Asked about the turning point of the match, Sehwag said, "That was the twin dismissals of Sri Lanka skipper Kumar Sangakkara and Tillakaratne Dilshan during the batting power play.
When they were batting so well it looked we may lose the match. It was their dismissals that turned the match in our favour." Sehwag said his batting effort would not have been enough for his side to win as the Lankans almost chased down the huge total. "I could not have won the match alone. It was a team effort," he declared.
