Related Matches:

1. IND vs SL, 24th Nov 2009

Virender Sehwag on Tuesday thanked his opening partner Gautam Gambhir for keeping the pressure off him when he wasn't hitting the ball well in the first hour of the second Test against Sri Lanka, and branded him the "next superstar" of Indian cricket. Sehwag (131) and Gambhir (167) shared a 233-run stand for the first wicket as India piled up a record 417 for two at stumps.

"Early in the innings, I wasn't hitting the ball so well. But Gautam has been in such good form that he was stroking the ball fluently, hitting boundaries, and keeping the run-rate around the three-runs-an-over mark. That helped me settle down on a wicket that had some moisture and early movement. I knew I could capitalise later as Sri Lanka were playing three spinners," Sehwag said after the day's play.

He went on to heap further praise on Gambhir, saying the left-hander is in such good form that he can score a century in every Test he plays. "He's the best opener to play for India since Sunil Gavaskar. It's not every day that you get someone who scores seven or eight hundreds in his first 25-odd matches. He's capable of going on and breaking Gavaskar's, and even Don Bradman's records."

Thursday's innings was Gambhir's eighth century in his 27th match. Gavaskar had nine hundreds in as many matches and Sehwag himself had seven. "Gautam loves scoring hundreds," Sehwag said. "I think he once scored five consecutive hundreds in first-class cricket, so it's something that comes naturally to him."

It was Sehwag's first century in six years when he did not go on to score at least 150, but he said he wasn't disappointed at missing out. "I love all my innings, whether I score 10 runs, or 100, or 300. I never bother about my averages," he said.

Though India are in a strong position to force a win by piling up a huge first-innings total, the run-filled draw in the first Test in Ahmedabad on a flat track is still fresh in memory. Sehwag said he felt his team had a better chance in Kanpur.

"I think we can take 20 wickets on this track. We will look to bat out the whole day tomorrow, get to 700 or 800, and then put pressure on them. I believe our bowlers can do the job," he said.

Citing the example of India's victory over Australia in Mohali last year, he added: "We got them out on a flat wicket with a similar bowling attack. I don't see why we can't do it here."