India are as good as Australia, says Sehwag

Virender Sehwag dishes out the verbals with the same frankness and confidence that he clatters the ball over the infield. In an interview featured on the BBC website, Sehwag said that India are as good as Australia. "Definitely we are on par with them [Australia]. If we can go there and beat them on their home ground, definitely we are up there."

"To beat a team like Australia, we have to battle it out for all the five days of a Test, and that's what we did when we beat them in Adelaide," said Sehwag. "We hope that we can put up a similar fight when they come here, and win the series."

When India toured Australia last, and drew 1-1, Australia were without Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne. When they tour India later this year, Australia hope to have a full-strength bowling attack at their disposal and Sehwag has taken note of this. "If you ask me about their bowling strength as such, yes, it would definitely be a lot better than what they had in the last series in Australia, with four good bowlers in Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie, Brett Lee and Shane Warne."

Sehwag, however, is not overawed by Australia's bowling arsenal. "Against such high-quality bowling scoring runs will be a worry, but it would depend very much on what form the batsman is at that time. If the batsman is in good form, it does not matter what the bowling attack is," he said.

"One-day cricket is a difficult game, the result is achieved inside a day," said Sehwag. "In one-day cricket there is always this fear, tension, as to what's going to happen and when, but I don't think they have any psychological hold over us. Maybe they are a better team, and a better team always wins."

Sehwag looked back at his record-breaking 309 against Pakistan with some degree of pride. "It feels good but the feeling was the same as that I have upon reaching any other milestone," he told the Press Trust of India. "Very few cricketers manage to come even close to the 300-mark, so I am happy to have that figure to my name. To make 300, you need to stay very long at the crease and for that you need patience, dedication and technique too."

Sehwag also brushed off suggestions that his technique was lacking. "In my case, I kept attacking," he said. "Maybe I was lucky too, I had my chances before crossing 300. But technique is essential, without that you can't survive, at least for such a long time. Many say that I am not technically sound but as far as I am concerned I am comfortable with my technique. It is a good technique, which was why I was able to make 300."