Sehwag on Sachin's 50th Test ton: Nazar mat lagao
AHMEDABAD: The cheer when Sachin Tendulkar walked out to the middle on the first day of the first Test against New Zealand at the Motera said it all. They are all here to see the Little Master make his 50th Test century. The crowd waited all day to see their hero but Virender Sehwag and Rahul Dravid took centrestage and put their celebration on hold with a long 237-run partnership.
But by the time Sachin took guard, he did not have much time left in the day to play with. He eventually ended with 13 on the board, very cautious and watchful all through.
While a Test century is never easy to score, factors here in Motera give Tendulkar a very good chance of attaining the feat. So how will the team celebrate once the feat is done? "Nazar mat lagao. Let the time come, we will all celebrate," was Sehwag's typical reply to the question.
Talking about the Little Master, Sehwag said, "I haven't seen anything different in him here. He has always been like that. Doesn't matter whether he is about to get his 10th Test ton, 20th or 50th, he has always shown the same kind of determination and application."
About the Test itself, while Sehwag thought 500 to 550 would be the ideal score to put New Zealand under pressure, Jesse Ryder felt that the two wickets in the last session had helped them crawl back into the game.
"Couple of early wickets on Day Two can change things," said Ryder. He admitted that if they had grabbed all the chances that they got, things could still have been different. "We knew it would be tough but at the same time we missed a lot of chances and gave them some easy scoring opportunities which made things difficult for us," said Ryder.
Sympathising with the visitors, Sehwag said, "The pitch is on the flatter side and it is a very inexperienced New Zealand attack which hasn't played much on Indian tracks but they will learn."
But by the time Sachin took guard, he did not have much time left in the day to play with. He eventually ended with 13 on the board, very cautious and watchful all through.
While a Test century is never easy to score, factors here in Motera give Tendulkar a very good chance of attaining the feat. So how will the team celebrate once the feat is done? "Nazar mat lagao. Let the time come, we will all celebrate," was Sehwag's typical reply to the question.
Talking about the Little Master, Sehwag said, "I haven't seen anything different in him here. He has always been like that. Doesn't matter whether he is about to get his 10th Test ton, 20th or 50th, he has always shown the same kind of determination and application."
About the Test itself, while Sehwag thought 500 to 550 would be the ideal score to put New Zealand under pressure, Jesse Ryder felt that the two wickets in the last session had helped them crawl back into the game.
"Couple of early wickets on Day Two can change things," said Ryder. He admitted that if they had grabbed all the chances that they got, things could still have been different. "We knew it would be tough but at the same time we missed a lot of chances and gave them some easy scoring opportunities which made things difficult for us," said Ryder.
Sympathising with the visitors, Sehwag said, "The pitch is on the flatter side and it is a very inexperienced New Zealand attack which hasn't played much on Indian tracks but they will learn."
