Mumbai, Dec 7 (IANS) Cricketer Virender Sehwag thanked former India captain Sourav Ganguly for giving him an opportunity to open the innings that moulded him into one of the most attacking batsmen in the world.

Opening batsman Sehwag hit 293 in the Mumbai Test against Sri Lanka as India won by an innings and 24 runs here Sunday and wrapped up the series 2-0.

Asked about the turning point in his career, Sehwag said: "I shall always be grateful to Sourav. He was the one who brought me up from middle-order to open the innings. He told me that if I don't perform as an opener then I will be shifted to the middle-order."

Sehwag, who was the chief architect of the win in the third Test, was adjudged the Man of the Match as well as the Player of the Series.

India also moved up to the No.1 spot in Test rankings. Sehwag came close to become the only batsman in the world to hit three tripple tons but fell seven runs short of the milestone.

He gave credit to the bowlers for the series victory over Sri Lanka and rated the 293 as his third best knock.

"This will be the third best of my knocks. I wasn't thinking anything, my mind was very blank; I waited for a while. I just waited for the bad balls. In the dressing room they were saying I was hitting the good balls too but when you look at from my point of view, I was just hitting the bad balls!" he said.

"But credit for this victory should go to the bowlers. It is very difficult to take 20 wickets on Indian pitches and they have managed to do it twice in the series," he said.