I felt Yuvraj's innings was crucial: MS Dhoni

India beat Sri Lanka in their 3^rd match in the Asia Cup T20. It was yet another game without much ado and without giving the opponent a real chance in the match. A good bowling performance was followed up by some cracking batting by Virat Kohli and Yuvraj Singh, the duo almost took India home. Yuvi more importantly, scored 35 runs off just 18 balls, the knock will not only give him the push but also to the management who have backed him from the last 9 games.

Indian skipper expressed how happy he was with his team’s performance in the post match presentation. MS Dhoni said: “Consistent performance is very important. We have done quite well in the last 9 games, we have lost only once. I felt Yuvraj’s innings was crucial not just for this game, but for the near future of the team. I think the tracks here are slightly on the softer side, although this one was a little harder. Until the dew takes its effect, the ball moves around a bit. 140 seemed as if too many runs because we were only chasing 80 and 100 odd in the last two games. This is something that looks a decent score, but I think 150-160 will be a good score here. The extra bowling options give me the opportunity to experiment. The stability of the side is very good as well because of the all-round options.”

Kohli for his fifty and the match-winning knock was awarded the Man of the Match Virat Kohli said: “Touchwood, it’s coming out nicely right now. It was a tough situation, we were 16/2. It’s always nice to challenge yourself. Kulasekara and Mathews started well for them. It was important to take the attack to the bowlers today because we weren’t chasing 84. All their bowlers are sort of seam bowlers apart from Chameera. The whole idea was to not give them too much room for the ball to move around. You need to be switched on this sort of a track and see how the ball is coming.”

Sri Lankan captain didn’t have much to talk about, they will surely be disappointed, Sri Lanka were the defending champions and with this loss have been knocked out of the tournament. Angelo Mathews said: “With the dew coming in, it felt like we were 20-30 runs short. Virat batted brilliantly and our bowlers didn’t have any answers. We needed to take a few wickets up front to push India back, but unfortunately Virat once again came to their rescue. We are heavily depending on our seniors to fire. We need to win the next game and see how the standings are.”

Yuvraj: “It (the knock) felt pretty good. I felt I needed those hits for my own confidence. It’s not an easy wicket to bat. You need to give yourself a bit of time, but I thought I gave myself a bit of time in the last two games, so decided to go for it. As a team we are playing really well. My job was to play according to the situation in the last two games and I am happy with the way I am hitting the ball.”

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