“There have never been any question marks over me in the one-day team,” the Indian vice-captain said. “In the last series against Pakistan, I made four fifties in five matches. I had two bad games here, and if after that there are question marks over my one-day place, that is the wrong question.
“It was very important to go out and show what you are capable of. I am very happy with the way I hit the ball. But I am not very satisfied with the innings. If Dhoni had not played as well as he did, we would have lost the game,” added the left-hander, paying handsome tributes to his skipper. “If you look at how many times Dhoni has batted in this fashion, it is brilliant. I was not as good as he is when I first came into the team. It is tremendous how he performs consistently. The young boys in the team and other teams must take inspiration from the way he bats in pressure situations.”
Yuvraj walked in with India 35 for three, and straightaway went on the attack. “I have done well in these situations in the past,” he offered. “In the last game, we lost too many wickets and the required rate went up. I thought we couldn’t afford to have the later batsmen needing to score six an over with the sun going down and the lights taking effect. I tried to keep the run rate going and be positive. “I was disappointed not to carry on, but I got a good ball, I guess. You want to go out and do the best for your country, you have good and bad days. My capabilities are very well known. I knew that if I keep working hard, it will click. We all have bad times, it is part and parcel of the game.”
India again went in with five bowlers, and without Virender Sehwag. “The bowlers did a very good job, to keep them down to 238 was tremendous. We bowled well with five bowlers in the last game, and we picked Praveen today because he can also bat. As for Viru, he is a tremendous player and you will always miss his efforts when he is not in the eleven. But you have got to see the team combination as well.” Yuvraj, skipper of the Mohali team, said the IPL hadn’t distracted the team. He somewhat gave the ghost away when he admitted that he had discussed with coach Tom Moody the personnel they would like to bid for.

SCOREBOARD

SRI LANKA
Dilshan c Dhoni b Patel 4
(4b, 1x4)
Jayasuriya (run out) 0
(3b)
S’kkara c Praveen b Pathan 128
(155b, 12x4)
Jayawardene (run out) 71
(99b, 4x4, 1x6)
Kapugedera (run out) 1
(5b)
Silva c Uthappa b Harbhajan 21
(30b)
Maharoof (not out) 3
(4b)
Vaas (not out) 1
(1b)
Extras (LB-4, W-4, NB-1) 9
Total (for 6 wkts, 50 overs) 238
Fall of wickets: 1-4 (Dilshan), 2-6 (Jayasuriya), 3-159 (Jayawardene), 4-161 (Kapugedera), 5-234 (Sangakkara), 6-235 (Silva).
Bowling: Patel 9-2-38-1 (w-1), Ishant 10-0-44-0, Pathan 10-0-44-1 (w-2), Praveen 10-0-49-0 (nb-1), Harbhajan 10-0-54-1, Yuvraj 1-0-5-0 (w-1).
Scoring pattern: 5 overs: 7/2; 10: 21/2; 15: 44/2; 20: 60/2; 25: 87/2; 30: 110/2; 35: 139/2; 40: 166/4; 45: 195/4; end of innings: 238/6 in 50 overs.
Runs during: Power Play 1: 1-10 overs: 21/2; Power Play 2: 11-15 overs: 23/0; Power Play 3 (three men out): 16-20 overs: 16/0.
INDIA
Gambhir c S’kkara b Amerasinghe 15
(34b, 2x4)
Tendulkar b Malinga 0
(2b)
Uthappa (run out) 10
(28b)
Rohit c Silva b Muralitharan 24
(36b, 1x4)
Yuvraj b Vaas 76
(70b, 10x4, 1x6)
Dhoni (not out) 50
(68b)
Pathan b Amerasinghe 31
(41b, 4x4)
Praveen c J’wardene b A’singhe 6
(8b)
Harbhajan lbw Malinga 3
(6b)
Ishant (not out) 0
(2b)
Extras (LB-14, W-10) 24
Total (for 8 wkts, 49.1 overs) 239
Fall of wickets: 1-2 (Tendulkar), 2-33 (Uthappa), 3-35 (Gambhir), 4-99 (Rohit), 5-158 (Yuvraj), 6-216 (Pathan), 7-229 (Praveen), 8-236 (Harbhajan).
Bowling: Vaas 10-0-27-1, Malinga 10-1-37-2 (w-6), Amerasinghe 10-0-49-3 (w-1), Maharoof 6.1-0-43-0 (w-2), Muralitharan 10-0-44-1 (w-1), Jayasuriya 2-0-14-0, Dilshan 1-0-11-0.
Scoring pattern: 5 overs: 16/1; 10: 33/2; 15: 51/3; 20: 84/3; 25: 111/4; 30: 137/4; 35: 164/5; 40: 189/5; 45: 215/5; end of innings: 239/8 in 49.1 overs.
Runs during: Power Play 1: 1-10 overs: 33/2; Power Play 2: 11-15 overs: 18/1; Power Play 3 (three men out): 16-20 overs: 33/0.