After drawing comparisons with Sachin Tendulkar for his masterly knock against New Zealand, Virender Shewag today disclosed that the batting maestro had sent him a congratulatory message for his match-winning innings yesterday.

"Sachin has sent a message asking me to 'keep it up'," a beaming Shewag said.

Shewag, who opened the Indian innings with captain Sourav Ganguly in the absence of Tendulkar, smashed a 69-ball 100, to guide India to a comprehensive seven-wicket victory over New Zealand in the last league match of triangular one-day series for a place in Sunday's final against Sri Lanka.

The innings drew comparisons with Tendulkar for the sheer contempt Shewag showed for the bowling while blasting 19 fours and a six, all of which were brilliant shots.

The effort however was not enough to earn Shewag a place in the 16- member squad for the Test series against Sri Lanka announced yesterday. "I have to perform better to get into the Test side," was all Shewag had to say about his exclusion.

A middle-order batsman, Shewag said he was comfortable opening the innings too. "I will bat in any position that the team wants me to," he said.

Shewag's maiden century was the seventh fastest in limited overs cricket. However, he said he was not going for the records and was not even aware of Mohammad Azharuddin's 62-ball hundred which is the fastest by any Indian. "I just kept playing my shots," he said.

Yuvraj Singh, who produced a similar match-winning knock against Sri Lanka the day before, said playing one's natural game was the key to success in one-day matches.

"We didn't put any pressure on ourselves and just played our shots," Yuvraj said. The left-handed all-rounder, who made a sensational debut against Australia in the ICC Knock-out tournament in Nairobi last year, has also been left out of the Test squad.

Yuvraj said he was not disappointed with the decision and was working on his bowling too to develop into a genuine all-rounder. He had a good outing in this tournament with the ball too and felt if he was able to contribute handsomely with the bat and the ball while being an outstanding fielder, the selectors could not ignore him for the Tests for long.

After winning three successive pressure games, a relieved Indian team team took a deserving break today, ahead of the final on Sunday.

"From the way we have won the last three matches, I can say we hope to win," team manager AN Mate said.

A group of underpriveleged children from a charitable institution in Ratmalana, a suburb of Colombo, visited the Indian team today.

© PTI