Sehwag out amidst drama

TRENT BRIDGE (Nottingham), June 9: Virender Sehwag will return home, Dinesh Karthick will come in his place and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni probably could play and plan in peace in the ICC World Twenty20.
A cryptic message from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) finally ended the suspense on Sehwag but not before the gloves were once again off between a sullen Mahendra Singh Dhoni and a petulant media.
As Dhoni dragged his feet on information on Sehwag, stating a press release from Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) would clear the air later, media insisted on hearing it from the captain and some unseemly scenes were witnessed in the press conference.
The news, in short, is that all is not well with Sehwag's shoulder and that he would return him. His replacement will be his team-mate in the Delhi Daredevils team, Dinesh Karthick who in the past has done quite well in England.
Earlier Sehwag had practice for exactly 12 balls in the nets when Indians had assembled for a practice session at Lady Bay ground. He stroked a few off Ishant Sharma and Praveen Kumar before retiring and getting a massage from the team masseur. He also received some tablets from team physio Nitin Patel.
In between drama at the press conference, Dhoni answered about the seriousness with which his team is approaching Wednesday's game against Ireland, the final league game of Group A.
As a team, we take all international matches very seriously.
Ireland have nothing to lose and they would be free from any pressure. They most likely would play still more aggressive cricket.
There were comparisons drawn between the hitting powers of Kevin O'Brien with Yuvraj Singh which drew almost a derision from the Indian skipper.
With all due respect, Yuvraj Singh is one of the biggest hitter of the game. There is a big gap between him and others.
Dhoni also had words of sympathy for Australia who have played more Twenty20 games than any other side even though have ended up as losers in the last five games.
This is kind of format where if you are off game even for two overs, you could pay a heavy price for it.
As a team I feel you only should look to perform up to your potential.
If the other side is still able to beat you then there is nothing much you can do about it.
However, we feel if we play up to our potential, we would be difficult to beat.
An ominous word from the Indian skipper for the rest of the world who are trying to topple him off the pedestal.