By IANS,
New Delhi : The hallmark of this new-look Indian outfit is that an in-form player has the responsibility to carry the team on his shoulders through the series and Yuvraj Singh and Gautam Gambhir are living up to that role, skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni said.
“It was a great performance by Yuvraj and Gambhir. That has been one of the features of this team. If someone is in form, he has the responsibility to take the team along through the series. I hope that they will continue to do that in this series,” Dhoni said after India took a 2-0 lead in the seven-match series here Monday .
Yuvraj once again did the star turn for India, cracking his second century on the trot and then taking four wickets while Gambhir scored 70 in India’s comprehensive 54-run win over England in the second one-dayer.
The duo pulled India out of trouble with a 134-run stand after they were struggling at 29 for three on an unpredictable wicket at the Maharani Usharaje Trust Cricket Ground.
“When we were down three wickets, we thought we would finish with a target of around 200. But then the target kept on changing as they build on that partnership and later Yusuf Pathan played a brilliant knock,” Dhoni added.
“This team believes in enjoying each other’s success. Even if someone is in bad form with bat or bowl, he feels he can go out there and take some brilliant catch or help a run-out on that field.”
Dhoni was all praise for Pathan, who stepped up the run-rate in the late overs with a quick-fire 50 off 29 balls that included four sixes.
“That’s his natural game. He is a big hitter of the ball and that’s what you require from a batsman lower down the order,” he said.
Drawing positives from the game, England captain Kevin Pietersen said that they have improved from the last game and hopefully they can put it across in the third ODI at Kanpur, Thursday.
“We started very well and reduced them to 29 for three. But we let it slip at that point. Yuvraj is in the midst of a good form and his partnership with Gambhir proved crucial. Our batsmen played well in patches. They got the start but one of the top-order batsmen has to get a big score,” he said.
Asked whether they missed an extra spinner, Pietersen said: “I do not think so. Samit (Patel) is doing a good job. We beat South Africa convincingly with the same combination.”
Man-of-the-Match Yuvraj Singh said this century was more subdued as the wicket was difficult.
“I came at a time when three wickets were down for 29. So I thought of spending some time and assess the wicket, The track was was not easy so I started slowly and focussed on building a partnership,” he said.