It was a revenge game for us: Sehwag

Man of the match Virender Sehwag termed India's 87-run win over Bangladesh as "revenge" having lost to the same opponents four years ago in Port-of-Spain during last World Cup.

- Scorecard

At the post-match conference, when questioned whether it was a revenge game, Sehwag made a curt reply, "I think so."

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A scribe asked about whether he was under any pressure to perform, he gave a typical Sehwag-like reply, "No pressure for me as I only bother about playing and scoring runs."

Sehwag stressed on the fact that his 140-ball 175 was a blend of caution and aggression.

"When we started, we got 10 runs per over for the first 3-4 overs but then we decided that we had to be careful or else we might lose a few wickets," he said.

Sehwag however did praise the Bangladeshi boys stating that "they have the ability to disappoint any big side. They are a good side and have the ability to do well against the top sides."

He also praised Virat Kohli for scoring an 83-ball 100.

"He really played well. He has matured, Shewag said.

About Virat's straight aerial hit being a treat to watch, Sehwag said, "We talked about it after a Champions Trophy innings when he was caught at long-on. These small signals are good enough for a batsman like him. Now he has six centuries and I think he is a good prospect."

Sehwag maintained that it would have been easy to chase 300-320 on this track and the team management wanted to field first if skipper Dhoni won the toss.

"We were also looking to field first. Chasing 300-320 would have been fine as it is easy to chase."

Meanwhile, Bangladesh captain Shakib al Hasan held his bowlers responsible for the loss to India at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium.

Bagladesh had created a flutter in the 2007 Caribbean World Cup when they upset India by five-wickets in a league match to throw them out of the tournament in the first round.

But Sehwag and Kohli ensured that the history was not repeated.

"We couldn't bowl too well. We bowled too many boundary balls and that cost us the game," Shakib, who scored a 50-ball 55, said.

"Indian batsman did really well and took the game away from us. But at one stage during chasing we thought we can win the game," he said.

Bangladesh had dropped former captain and experienced batsman Mohammad Ashraful for the opening match against India but the skipper said the decision would have made hardly any impact on the outcome of the match.

"I think it was the best possible combination. For our openers the plan was simple, they had to bat properly and keep going. Tamim (Iqbal) and Junaed (Siddique) tried to do that. They didn't play too many bad shots and there wasn't many slogs. We almost got to 300," Shakib said.

Asked whether Bangladesh missed pacer Mushrafe Mortaza, who was not selected in the World Cup squad due to injury, Shakib said: "He is not in the squad but it wouldn't have been different if he was.

"The fast bowlers did well in the last 12 months and I am sure they'll come back strongly. Shafiul (Islam) was maybe slightly nervous and so he couldn't execute the plans. He bowled too many boundary balls.

Asked whether whether his decision to put India into bat backfired, the Bnagladesh captain said, "I still think my decision was right."