Sehwag to be back tomorrow, will have an attacking approach

[1]

Mostly a failure during this Australian summer, dashing Indian opener Virender Sehwag will return to the team for tomorrow's match against Sri Lanka after being 'rested' from the opening ODI and has vowed to be in his usual attacking self in the ongoing tri-series here.

Sehwag was 'rested' from the opening ODI against Australia which India lost by 65 runs in Melbourne on Sunday.

"I tried to play a little differently in Perth because the ball was doing something. It didn't work so I went back to my own style. I will do so in ODIs as there are only 50 overs and you want to give a good start to the team," said Sehwag who smashed 219 runs in his last one-day innings - against the West Indies in Indore last year.

"My style of playing is to give little respect to new ball and then go after the bowling, depending on who's bowling. If someone is bowling well, you have got to give him respect," he added.

In the third Test in Perth, Sehwag made 0 and 10 in two innings, which was largely symbolic of the miserable summer the Indian opener has had in Australia in the last few weeks.

Sehwag was rested for the first ODI against Australia at MCG on Sunday but returns to the fold - either at the expense of Sachin Tendulkar or Gautam Gambhir, most likely the latter.

"They will decide on it tomorrow. We want to give break to the top three batsmen, either Gautam (Gambhir) or Tendulkar will take a break and may be I can play," he said.

Sehwag said the rotation in the top order was largely intended to give opportunity to the youngsters to get used to the conditions where the next World Cup will be staged in 2015. It is also important for tired minds and bodies to get rest from time to time, he reasoned.

"The break is good. You are playing Tests, then Twenty20s and now ODIs. The body can be fatigued and a mental break is also good. So top three can get a break and all the youngsters can play and they need to because they have just arrived."

"We want to give chance to youngsters. The next World Cup is here, all the youngsters this way can play and get used to the conditions here," Sehwag said.

"It's important the youngsters have to play a lot more ODIs, especially when the World Cup comes, they should have played 70-80 ODIs. That's our aim, to give more chances to youngsters."

Another Indian strategy, visible thus far in shorter formats of the game, is to play three spinners in the playing eleven though it could boomerang on bouncy WACA pitch.

"We are clear about one thing from Day One - we would play with two spinners if the pitch is dry. May be Perth is different, we can play three or even four fast bowlers here," he said.

This Indian strategy of playing spinners is different from the last World Cup where India won the title by playing three seamers and a spinner.

"It's a strategy which the captain and coach decide. Especially in big grounds such as the MCG, where the wicket was dry and the ball was stopping and coming on to the bat. It sometimes works and sometimes it doesn't," he said.

"In India, it's difficult for spinners to bowl in powerplays. But then (Ravichandran) Ashwin and Harbhajan (Singh) played together against Australia in the quarter-finals," he added.

Tomorrow's match could see the return of Zaheer Khan who hasn't played either in two Twenty20s or the first ODI in MCG. Zaheer bowled in the nets at WACA on Tuesday and Sehwag said he is available for selection.

India is up against a team whom they beat to claim the 2011 World Cup last year. Sri Lanka have introduced quite a few youngsters in their squad who are beginning to do well for them.