Ahmedabad, Nov 5: He never loses sleep before a match, he never worries about the pitch. Even at the non-striker’s end, he does not spend time thinking of what deliveries lie ahead of him. All Virender Sehwag does on the field is hum a tune and react to the deliveries bowled at him as they come. And the results, almost every time, are phenomenal.

After scoring 173 off 199 balls on Day 1 of the Ahmedabad Test, Virender Sehwag spoke about his game, technique and the man he idolises - Sachin Tendulkar. Excerpts from an interview.

On whether he plans out his innings

I never plan my innings - before going in [to play] I am normally chatting with the boys, singing songs or maybe listening to music. I start concentrating once I cross the rope. So, if I plan my innings, I [would be likely to] get out early. I just react to the ball and that is the best technique for me.

On whether he changes his technique to suit the wicket

When you are just reacting to the ball you don’t think about the wicket being slow or fast or whether the ball is coming on to the bat or not. I don’t really bother about [these things].

On Sachin Tendulkar

[All teammates] learn from Tendulkar. He is 37 and still scoring lots of runs. We spend a lot of time with him in the dressing room or the practice sessions. We often ask him how one can maintain [one’s involvement in the] game and fitness for such a lot time. He has given us some tips and we are following that.

On using a runner after Tea on Day 1

In the morning, I fell down. Maybe some jerk in my knee [caused the] pain and I had to take a runner after Tea. I hope it gets better tomorrow.

On choosing to play deliveries bowled outside off-stump

I was a middle-order batsman when I started my career so you don’t get much opportunity to leave the balls outside the off-stump. And I don’t want to lose any opportunity to score. It is the same thinking [that] I apply as an opener. If a bowler bowls outside the off-stump, I will hit him for one or two fours - then he will think twice before bowling another one. [If he] bowls on the middle-stump or on the legs, then I will [most likely] score another boundary. My simple strategy is to put pressure on the bowler rather than thinking about [my] score.

On the Motera wicket

Yeah, the pace was slow [on Day 1] and the ball was not coming on to the bat. I played a couple of shots early on and after that the ball was not coming and stopping. I decided to score as many as I could with the new ball and think about it later on.

On what he does when he is at the non-striker’s end

When I get time and I am at the non-striker’s end, then I [hum] a lot of songs. I talk to the umpire and tell him [things like] – ‘you know [a delivery that] wide should be a [called a] wide whether it is a Test match or ODI or Twenty20’. Just time-pass [sic] with umpires or singing songs but not thinking about the game. If I start thinking about the game - whether I should play this shot or that shot - I might make a mistake.

On mischievously signalling a ‘free-hit’ after a no-ball was called on Day 1

The moment the umpire said ‘No-ball’, I said ‘Free Hit’. The idea is that I should enjoy my cricket also. If you do little things then you will enjoy [your time on the field]. Little things make everyone smile and then we can get ready for the next ball.

On his teammates scoring at a brisk rate in Test matches

Yes, we are working on that. If we want to continue as [the] No. 1 [team] and win more Test matches, we have to score at a good rate so that we give our bowlers enough time to get 20 wickets. It is the batsmen’s responsibility [to give the bowler’s a decent chance].