Rising

flamboyant opener Virender Sehwag, who has been selected to the national ODI team against Pakistan, today said he was happy to get back into the side and hoped to repeat his past performance against Pakistan.

"I was hopeful that my name would come up because in the past I had done well against Pakistan," he said, adding that "I am hopeful of repeating my performance in the coming series."

When asked by reporters about Rahul Dravid, he said Dravid is a great player and has scored over 10,000 runs in one day internationals. "Therefore I feel bad for him but it all depends on the selectors."

He said "I was expecting a call against the Australians but as I was injured then, so I expected to be recalled against Pakistan."

About his personal fitness, Sehwag said fitness drills have benefitted him a lot. "I have lost weight and my fielding and running between the wickets have improved." On the Pakistan series, he said it would be a tough one. "They are a good, tough and a young side. They have bowlers like Shoaib, Asif and Umar Gul who have been playing well in the last two to three years and it is not easy to play against quality fast bowling." He said that he would play "in whatever position my captain wants me to bat," when pointed out that there were other openers like Sourav Ganguly, Robin Utthapa and Sachin Tendulkar in the side.

About his batting, he said "I am very confident, I have got runs today." Asked about the captaincy of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, he said Dhoni was a good future captain and his mind works fast on the field.

__________________
please join the forum and post