Seeking to put behind his poor form with the bat, Virender Sehwag has promised his fans "a new Sehwag with a new technique" in the coming year which begins with India taking on arch-rivals Pakistan in a Test and one-day international series.
Sehwag admitted candidly that he had not performed to his potential in the recent past, but said he is confident of overcoming the slump in Pakistan.
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"I know I have not played up to the expectations, especially in the one-day games. I have been able to score 20s and 30s but could not convert them into big innings. But I believe this is a thing of the past," he told Aaj Tak in its programme 'Seedhi Baat' to be telecast on Sunday.
"In the new year, people will see a new Sehwag with a new technique and I am confident of making good scores."
Asked if he prefers to play in the middle-order, he said: "I don't think so. I have played better than many players who have opened for India in the recent past. I made my debut as an opening batsman in 2002 and since then I have made nine centuries whereas while playing in the middle order, I have made one century.
"By any standards, I think it's a good performance. Many batsmen such as V V S Laxman, Hemang Badani, S S Das, Akash Chopra, Wasim Jaffer and Sanjay Bangar also opened with me but I think they were not so successful."
Sehwag said every batsman suffers from slump in form at some point in his career.
"There comes a time when a batsman is out of form and everybody from Sachin to Rahul Dravid to Sourav Ganguly to Laxman -- all of them have gone through it."
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