Kanpur: Virender Sehwag, at the media conference after the first day’s play of the India-Sri Lanka second Test, heaped praise on his opening partner Gautam Gambhir and said that he was the best Indian opener after Sunil Gavaskar.

Expressing confidence in the Indian bowlers’ ability to bowl out Sri Lanka twice in the Test, Sehwag also said that the he hoped the pitch to assist the spinners as the game progressed.

The following are excerpts

His lucky escape in the very first over

Yes, I was indeed lucky. After that dropped chance, I decided that I would be more careful in the first 10 overs and then play my natural game.

I left everything outside the off-stump. The ball was doing a bit during the first 35-40 minutes and I had to be cautious. I decided to open up after that.

On getting a century

I am always happy. Whether I score, 10, 20, 200 or 300.

Not going on to score a big hundred

It depends on what you consider to be a big hundred. I believe, 131 is a big enough score at this level.

Whether he’s worried with his dipping Test average

I don’t get bothered by averages. I play this game because I am passionate about it. If I would I have cared about averages, then I should have rather looked at improving my ODI average.

Gautam Gambhir’s performance

There is no doubt that he is talented. As far as I am concerned, he is the best Indian opener after Sunil Gavaskar. His performance over the last year has been phenomenal.

His footwork against the spinners was brilliant today (Tuesday). I have told him that he should try and emulate the likes of Sir Don Bradman and Gavaskar. He has eight centuries from 27 matches and should have 10 hundreds from his first 30 Tests like these legends. That will be outstanding.

Their on-field chemistry

We enjoy batting in each other’s company. For instance, when Murali came on to bowl, Gautam tried to play a risky shot and I just told him to be careful. I told him to think big as it was a great wicket to bat on. The very next ball, he hit a beautiful cover drive.

On the Kanpur wicket

It is definitely a great wicket to bat on. With little moister in air, I knew the ball would do something and I had to be careful. They had three spinners and I fancied my chance against them. So I took time and concentrated a lot before playing my shots.

We are in a positive frame of mind. We are hoping to bat the whole day tomorrow (Wednesday) and put around 700 runs on the board. That will put pressure on the opponents.

Whether they had any specific plans to handle the Lankan spin trio

I don’t think we had chalked out any specific strategy for the Sri Lankan spin trio of (Muttiah) Muralidharan, (Rangana) Herath and (Ajantha) Mendis.

We didn’t want to be aggressive from the very onset and had just planned to play each ball on its merit. I was a bit cautious initially while Gambhir was stroking the ball well. However, it was easier once the spinners came in. It helped me to go for my shots.

Muralidharan’s poor show

I don’t think the Sri Lankan spinners bowled as badly as it is being made out to be. It is just that we batted well. The first day wicket is always best for batting and we took full advantage of it. If you have scored 417 on the first day, you got to give credit to the batsman.

On the possibility of bowling out Sri Lanka twice in the Test

We are positive about bowling Sri Lanka out twice in three days. We have quality bowlers in Zaheer Khan, Sreesanth, Harbhajan Singh and Pragyan Ojha.

We bowled out Australia twice in a placid Mohali track last year and there is no reason why we cannot do it here.

Also, the ball is keeping a bit low. I am confident that the spinners will get turn during the last two days. Unlike last time this is not a pitch where match will end inside three days.