The pressure is off Yuvraj: MSD

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MS Dhoni’s fascination to finish matches off the last over cost the national side another game. The T20 against New Zealand was a fine opportunity for India to carry some confidence to Sri Lanka. From electing to bowl on that wicket to his methods with the bat, Dhoni left many befuddled. The skipper tried his best to explain the defeat.

Q: Do you think the game went according to plan?
No, it did not go exactly according to plan because the plan was to win. I think it was a good game overall. The fast bowlers gave us a very good start and I think McCullum batted really well in the middle overs where he took our spinners on and made it difficult for us.

Q: How did the bowling at death overs go and what were the positives out of this match?
Balaji bowled really well and that’s a plus for us. Zaheer bowled well too and Irfan gave us those breakthroughs, which were really important. To start off Virat had to open and I think he batted really well. It was good to see Yuvraj Singh come back and score some runs. And all these things were the positives but of course in this format results don’t go the way you want to.

Q: Considering that Yuvraj was making a comeback was it an emotional match?
Yeah it was a big game for him. You know he was coming back after nine or ten months and all eyes were on him. It was good to see him on the field. He chipped in with a couple of overs and batted well. I personally feel that he gives us the right kind of balance. I am really happy for him. But once you go onto the field you don’t think about all these things. The main motto is to execute your plans. I have always believed that if some of these things happen, you should try to keep it simple. Given that he is playing after ten months, you will put pressure on him because he doesn’t know where he stands but overall I think he is in the right groove. There is no pressure on him now.

Did you try to do things too differently?
No but what should have been done is very difficult to assess now. We have used all bowlers and I didn’t want to use an off spinner because the ball was coming on nicely. I tried everything possible.

Given the next game is the World Cup, were all these experiments necessary?
This was not an experiment. Sehwag was not fit so we had to make Virat open the innings. He will come back into the side and that will be the first playing eleven. Because it was important to see how Balaji was playing. He has done really well in the IPL season. Death overs have been a concern for us so we want to see who are our best bowlers. With Irfan they are fighting for one slot. If Irfan is not playing, the balance of the team goes a bit haywire. I think Balaji was the biggest plus from this game.

Were you confident of a win at all stages?
We were one shot away. We planned to keep it till the end. We had two set batsmen. We reached a good position in the end but sometimes it doesn’t work out. Rohit is among the big hitters we have, unfortunately he was not able to strike the last ball well.