By P. Karunakharan, IANS,
Colombo : Indian cricketer Yuvraj Singh, after winning the man-of-the-series award in 4-1 One-Day International series victory over Sri Lanka, Sunday said he wanted make a point about his ability to face the world’s best spinners in their own backyard.
Yuvraj Singh scored one brilliant century and two half centuries in his 284 runs against Sri Lanka who boasted of the world’s highest wicket taker Muttiah Muralidharan and the ‘mystery man’, Ajantha Mendis, in their spin attack.
YUvraj also took four wickets as a part-time bowler.
“Coming here last time, I had a very bad series. I wanted to make a point and was determined to turn it around. With my team-mates and Sachin (Tendulkar) helping me a lot in the nets, I figured out how to effectively tackle the spinners,” Yuvraj said after winning the second consecutive man-of-the-series title. He was named the player of the series in India’s series win over England also.
“I havn’t changed too many things in my game. The more you play, the more you learn. So I just backed myself and played to my strength,” he said, adding that the team spirit has been very high since South Africa’s Garry Kirsten was appointed as coach.
Winning the trophy, Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni said that although his team has won the series 4-1, “it is never easy playing Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka”.
Happy with the consolation win, Sri Lanka’s skipper Mahela Jayewardene said his team was up against “one of the best teams in the world today”.
“It is good to finish on a winning note, especially before the two-match Test series in Pakistan,” he said.