Tendulkar said it''s okay: Sehwag on run-out in Bangla match

Dhaka, Feb 20 (PTI) Sachin Tendulkar''s run-out due to amix-up was perhaps the only low point of Virender Sehwag''sscintillating knock against Bangladesh but the Indian openersaid his senior partner took the dismissal in his stride as,for him, winning the game was more important.

"He was calling, and I was not listening, and I waslooking at the ball," Man of the Match Sehwag said after the87-run triumph over Bangladesh in the World Cup opener, duringwhich he smashed 175 off just 140 balls.

"But when I went to the dressing room, he said: ''It''sokay. What''s important is to win the game for the country.

It''s not important who is performing,''" Sehwag recalled.

Sehwag and Tendulkar had put on 69 by the 11th over whenthe run-out happened. Tendulkar charged down the wicket afterdriving a ball but Sehwag did not respond as he was busylooking in ball''s direction.

Both the batsmen ended up at the non-striker''s end andBangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan''s direct throw to thewicket-keeper led to Tendulkar''s dismissal for 28.

Sehwag said the win has maintained the momentum that theteam carried from back-to-back wins in the practice gamesagainst Australia and New Zealand.

"It is so important to have momentum going your way. Ifyou don''t have it, you tend to lose matches a lot more. Wehave been very consistent in the three games we have played sofar and this will help us play better as the tournament goeson. It''s been really good so far," he said.

The 32-year-old batted for 47 overs in yesterday''s gameand plans to last the full 50 overs in the coming matches.

"When I came back (to the dressing room), three overswere left, and I still had 25 to get. I would have had to play15 out of those 18 balls, so I wasn''t thinking of thedouble-hundred," he said

"My target was to bat 50 overs, no matter how much Iscore," he added.

Hardly the one to mince words when it comes to expressinghimself, Sehwag said pacer S Sreesanth, who conceded 53 runsin his five overs, did not bowl well in the match.

"No team likes to lose, and neither do we. So this was avery important game for us. Everyone did well, other thanSreesanth," he said.