Victory, sweet victory. Sweet because it came after a couple of setbacks. And it had to be at Lord's in the NatWest Challenge series. I have so many fond memories of both. Even though we had lost the series, the win helped us to get back into the winning frame of mind. It is just the right tonic for the boys before the ICC Champions Trophy. It was a good toss to win on what was essentially a second-day wicket.
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I say this because Pakistan and Australia had played a one-dayer on the same pitch the day before. It looked like a 250-run wicket, and the condition of the pitch was quite good, prompting me to opt for batting first. We shuffled our batting order a bit for this game.
Virender Sehwag's lack of form is a cause for concern, so we tried to take some pressure off him by sending him down the order. We felt it would help him relax a bit before walking out to the middle.
It didn't quite work for him, but it was worth an effort. I guess we will have to figure out another suitable combination.