Mahendra Singh Dhoni is perhaps already feeling the heat. At Kochi, on the eve of the second one-dayer, the skipper stayed away from the pre-match conference, letting cricket manager Lalchand Rajput handle the show. At the Rajiv Gandhi International stadium here on Thursday, it was Yuvraj Singh's turn to face the barrage of questions from the media.

Yuvraj is a fairly terse speaker at press conferences. "Things didn't go our way in Kochi," he began. "Australia planned well and executed very well. We did not bat or bowl well enough. We did not bowl well after 30 overs, we did not have any partnerships. But there are five more matches to go. Hopefully, if we win tomorrow, it will be 50-50 and then anyone's game."

The Punjab left-hander made 103 in the only international at this venue so far – against South Africa in November 2005 – but said that memory would count for nothing on the morrow. "Whatever has happened has happened. That was one and a half years ago, this is a different time, a different opposition, different conditions. This is a new ball game. It looks like a good pitch. We got 250 on it last time, this one looks a good batting wicket."
Admitting that there was a rotation policy in place, Yuvraj went on, "Yes, it is our plan for the future. We may not execute it immediately. Tomorrow, the best eleven will play."

S Sreesanth's histrionics were bound to come up for discussion. "He is aggressive, but everyone knows that he must be in control of himself. In the last game, there was a bit too much talk from both teams. Hopefully in the next game, there will be more focus on cricket than on talking."

India's spinners failed miserably to exploit fairly favourable conditions in Kochi, but Yuvraj refused to apportion blame. "It is not about slow or fast bowlers," the vice-captain of the triumphant Twenty20 team said. "Everyone has to pick up wickets if we have to keep the opposition in check. We must start well and continue from there."
Until three days back, there was so much talk of how the team didn't need a coach, particularly after a Test series win in England which preceded the Twenty20 triumph. Suddenly now, after one loss, the question doing the rounds was whether it wasn't time to have a regular coach! "Different teams plan differently," Yuvraj observed. "They plan quite well. We haven't done well in one-day internationals for some time now, we are trying to get better. Obviously, it is not about a coach. Every team demands a full-time coach. At the moment, there is nothing lacking in us. If we play to our potential, I am sure, we will win."

Yuvraj said the think-tank had shortlisted 12 for the match, but refused to reveal names.