Virender Sehwag was in for a surprise when he returned to his hotel after his match-winning hundred against Sri Lanka on Wednesday night.

The carved elephant Sehwag received from the team hotel for his match-winning effort

The Man of the Match (MOM) award he received after India's 105-run win was not the only award of the night. The hotel staff presented Sehwag with a miniature elephant carved in wood alongwith a mini bat.

"Man of the match from hotel guys... very sweet people," Sehwag wrote on his social networking page.

For the hotel staff, it was an honour to reward the dashing opener.u00a0 We have gifted Sehwag an elephant (carved in wood) and a mini-bat", he said "It has been a tradition of the resort to felicitate the man of the match, said Jeewaka Weerakoon, Heritance Kandalama's General Manager.

"When the team returns from the ground, the manager on duty escorts the man of the match to his hotel room.
We have different gifts for different winners. In Sri Lanka, an elephant is a good omen and is also a sign of prosperity," he added.

The writer is a freelancer