Pietersen and Sehwag keen to convert starts

Kevin Pietersen, slightly red-faced from the heat and sweating quite profusely, readily admitted that he was disappointed by the fact that he had not gone on to make a big hundred in the series, and that this had affected England's chances in the series. "It's one of the things I am not happy with," Pietersen told the media ahead of the sixth one-day international, at Jamshedpur. "I have made four or five fifties, but I have not been able convert them into bigger knocks, and that is something I am going to look to do in the next couple of games. It's not that I chucked my wicket away or anything like that. As a team, we did set goals coming into India, and while we have achieved some of those goals, we have not reached some others, especially in terms of some of the hundreds and the wickets we wanted to take as a team."

Ironically, Virender Sehwag, who is leading the team that has a 4-0 advantage in the series, spoke of similar problems. "I'm not really too concerned about my own form. I have been batting well in the nets and even in the matches I have got starts, making 20s and 30s, but failed to go on and get a big one. I'm confident it will only take one big innings to get back in form. I'm hopeful tomorrow I can convert it in a big way."

If Sehwag does convert in a big way he'd better be prepared for a hard slog, given how hot it is here. On Tuesday, the high was 44 degrees centigrade, and it was expected to get worse in the next 48 hours. But Sehwag downplayed the effect the heat may have. "We are used to it, it is hot all over India at this time of the year," he said. "It will be a little more difficult for England, who may not have seen such heat. It's already 44 degrees and tomorrow, when the crowd comes in, it will feel like 54. In Kochi, it was very humid but here it's dry heat, so it is fairly tolerable."

The Pietermaritzburg-born Pietersen tried to look at the bright side of the heat, suggesting that it was better playing in ultra-hot conditions than sitting indoors and watching it snow. "It is a nice warm day, and we need to get ourselves used to it today. Guwahati was the only place where the temperature was below 30, so hopefully we are used to it by now. I have played in similar heat in Durban, but nothing more than here. It's the first time I have come to India in April and it is very hot, but it is better than being in England at this time, sitting indoors watching it rain and snow and not playing, which is very depressing."

Pietersen added that playing in India was not merely about the conditions, suggesting that the mental side of things played a huge part. "Playing in India is a great challenge. This is more of a mental tour than anything else, the heat and playing world-class spinners. Coming here, I wanted to enjoy the tour. When I finish the tour on Saturday, I will sit back and look at all the little challenges I set for myself. I think I am there and thereabouts in terms of patience as well."

India are playing an ODI minus Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly for the first time in three years and Sehwag said it was only natural that youngsters came into their own at some point of the other. "Of course, there is a shift in generation," he said. "That has always been the case. First we had the Sunil Gavaskar era, then the Sachin Tendulkar era. Now more and more youngsters are coming in, so things keep changing. We have been dependent on Sourav, Sachin and Rahul for a while, now the burden is on the youngsters. It will be a difficult task, but hopefully, we will do well."

Of the new breed of youngsters, Mahendra Singh Dhoni is easily the most exciting, and Sehwag said it came as no surprise that Dhoni was at the centre of adulation, not just here in his home state, but around the country. " It happens to all talented cricketers. When you are in your first year and you do very well, you get all the honours and the awards. In that sense, he has been lucky, but such awards come as a motivation. Dhoni is a talented cricketer, he is a very good prospect and in future, he can single-handedly win matches for the country. He has been playing down the order and not getting too many opportunities to show what he is capable of this series. Our plan is to play him up the order here," Sehwag added.

Sehwag also clarified that though the team was keen to play in Guwahati, the conditions made it a risk not worth taking. "We were all upset that the Guwahati match could not be played. We had challenged ourselves to win the mini three-match series. Everyone was keen and we all were looking forward to the game, but the ground was so wet that we didn't want to risk injuries to players. We are keen to keep the winning habit going, that is very important for the team. We want to win, we are all very motivated."