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Sehwag still keen on middle order

Virender Sehwag has said despite his success as an opener he still belongs in the middle order and would love to bat there once again if he got the chance

Cricinfo staff
11-Apr-2009
Virender Sehwag: "I really teased him [Gambhir] when I outscored him in the one-day series and he told me he would get back at me"  •  AFP

Virender Sehwag: "I really teased him [Gambhir] when I outscored him in the one-day series and he told me he would get back at me"  •  AFP

Despite his success as an opener, Virender Sehwag has said he still belongs in the middle order and would love to bat there if he got the chance. Sehwag said he had asked the team management to push him down the order when he felt he was out of form but had been told he would contribute better as an opener.
"I was a middle-order batsman who was asked to open and luckily for me, things went really well," Sehwag told Indian Express. "In fact, till date, as an opener I am just doing a job given to me by the team management. Given a choice, I would happily slide down and play in the middle-order because that's where I belong. But right now, I have a job entrusted to me and I love the responsibility, so no regrets at all."
In eight Tests in which he batted between No. 4 and No. 7, Sehwag averaged 41.55, with one century and two half-centuries. As an opener he averages 51.21 from 64 Tests.
Sehwag also said he and his opening partner Gautam Gambhir motivated themselves by placing bets on who would score faster. "I believe that a sense of competition always helps achieve your best and so we indulge in these little games. I really teased him when I outscored him in the one-day series and he told me he would get back at me. After the Test series, he's teasing me about how many more runs he scored than me."
Sehwag felt he was going through the best phase of his career as his performances had translated into wins for the team. "There are several factors surrounding these statistics -- the dressing-room atmosphere, the team-mates, coach, captain -- it's everything you could dream of." Sehwag has scored a triple-hundred, a double-hundred and five half-centuries in the 15 Tests since Gary Kirsten took over as coach in March 2008. India did not lose any of the matches in which he scored fifty or more.