da esoccer bet： The celebrations are over as far as Virendra Shewag is concerned
da luck： Staff Reporter04-Aug-2001The celebrations are over as far as Virendra Shewag is concerned. Heis already trying to concentrate for the next match ahead. But a smallyellow strip of paper is now his constant companion. The paper has amessage of congratulations from Sachin Tendulkar.Immediately after India’s win on Thursday, Tendulkar had called up theTaj Samudra hotel in Sri Lanka. However, at that time, the Indian teamhad not come back to the hotel. So the master blaster had asked thereceptionist to note down the message. It read: "Great Innings.Congratulations. I hope that you will not disappoint me in thefinal." It is this piece of paper that was delivered to Shewag on hisarrival and has now become his inspiration for the next match"I am in a dream world right now," said Shewag. "I cannot believethat the great Sachin Tendulkar congratulated me. Sourav is tellingthe entire world to take notice of me and Rahul Dravid is always therewith advice whenever I need it. To tell you frankly, it is like adream for me. When I used to watch all these people play, I used tothink whether I would be able to play like them. And today, I amsharing the same dressing room with them. I just want this dream tocontinue," said Shewag over the phone on Friday.Immediately after his return to the hotel on Thursday, Shewag hadtreated the entire team to a huge cake. There can be no doubt thatroom mate Yuvraj Singh had the largest share.Shewag does not feel that this innings will become a source ofconstant pressure for him. "I know that expectations will rise. Butthen, playing for the country is pressure itself," he said over thephone.Meanwhile, Shewag’s younger brother Vinod, said on Friday thatinitially he was a bit doubtful about India’s victory. "But onceVeeru (Shewag’s nickname) started going, I realized that it was goingto be his day." Virendra’s younger brother is more into academics.However, at every opportunity, Vinod sits down in front of thetelevision to see his brother in action. "He never lost heart afterinjury forced him out of the team from the one-day home series againstAustralia." Commenting on that period, Vinod said, "He was justdetermined to get better. And in this he has succeeded."
