Yuvraj rates his knock against England as best

Rajkot, Nov 14 (IANS) Yuvraj Singh, who made mincemeat of the English attack with a blazing century during the first one-day international here Friday, rated it as his best knock in one-day cricket.

Yuvraj scored an unbeaten 138 in 78 balls to carry India to an 158-run victory in the first of the seven-match ODI series.

'It is my best knock. I am very happy with the effort,' he said.

'I had a good last series but I was not picked for the Test series against Australia. The last couple of months were hard for me. I focussed on my cricket and worked hard and it paid off here.

'The openers gave us a good a good start. So I had enough time to settle down. We thought of staying till the end so that we could reach 350 plus.'

Yuvraj, who played with his back heavily strapped, said he pulled a muscle and will have to get fit before the next ODI Monday at Indore.

Dhoni hopes Yuvraj gets a hat-trick of centuries

Kanpur, Nov 19 (IANS) India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni hopes in-form Yuvraj Singh gets a third consecutive century in the third One-Day International against England here Thursday.

'I hope he (Yuvraj) scores his third consecutive century here and that would suit the team as well,' Dhoni told reporters after a practice session at the Green Park Stadium here Wednesday.

Yuvraj has been in rampaging form with an unbeaten 138 in Rajkot and 118 in Indore, where he also picked up four wickets.

'Yuvraj, when on song, is simply one of the best, even the top bowlers struggle against him. As a captain, I have noticed that all big players who slog down the order are left-handers, probably because the bowlers have sorted out the right-handers. They can bowl yorker or low fulltoss to a right-hander, but struggle to find the right line for the left-handers,' Dhoni said.

The India captain also said that as Yuvraj was making a come-back he motivated the left-handed batsman to play his natural game.

'I told him see the ball and hit it. At times when a player goes through a bad patch, you have to keep him motivated. But all the players in the team are very talented and you cannot really change their basics. All you can do is to motivate them,' he said.

Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh and Virender Sehwag skipped the practice session and Dhoni said that since it was an optional session the players decided to take some rest. But Ishant Sharma, who was rested for the first two matches, has been declared fit and is expected to play.

'In the Test series against Australia, he (Ishant) bowled long spells and was tired. But even then, bowling his third spell of the day, he gave it his best and bowled his heart out, putting in the same amount of effort. You have to take care of kids like him,' Dhoni said.

'He is just 19 or 20, you have to make sure that he does not sustain injuries and remains in the right frame of mind.'

Rudra Pratap Singh, who has been unimpressive so far, is expected to make way for Ishant.

'Look, he (Rudra Pratap) has not played for a while and its always difficult to make a comeback. It is at times like this that you need to completely back him. He has been one of the best bowlers against England and even though he is looking bit rusty, the team will back him and we hope he comes back strong,' Dhoni said.

Indian Captain Dhoni praises Yuvraj Singh

Yuvraj Singh's consecutive one-day centuries against England, after having been dropped from the Test squad, have won him rich praise from India's captain and selectors ahead of the third match of the series Thursday.

Yuvraj hit a dominant 138 from just 78 balls in the series opener in Rajkot and followed it with a composed 118 in the second one-dayer at Indore - where he also snared four wickets - to take man-of-the-match honours in successive matches.

Riding on Yuvraj's dominant knocks, India has surged to a 2-0 lead in the seven-match series.

"I hope he scores his third consecutive century here," India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said at training Wednesday at Green Park Stadium.

"On song, Yuvraj is simply one of the best, even the top bowlers struggle against him," said Dhoni. "Yuvraj is a strong-hitter and hits along the ground."

Yuvraj ignored back pain to make himself available for the England series, as he was eager to keep himself on the selection radar after being dropped from the Test squad following poor form on the recent tour to Sri Lanka.

India's chief selector Krishnamachari Srikkanth said Yuvraj's form had pushed his claim to fill the Test squad's middle-order slot vacated by retirement of former skipper Sourav Ganguly.

"Yuvraj is definitely a front-runner" for Test selection, Srikkanth was quoted as saying Tuesday in The Telegraph in Calcutta.

"Over the years, he has already shown he's a match-winner in one-day internationals. I see Yuvraj as a potential match-winner in Tests too."

India's pace attack for the third one-day match will be strengthened by the return of Ishant Sharma, who was declared fit Wednesday after missing the opening two matches with an ankle sprain.

"In the Test series against Australia, Ishant bowled long spells and was tired," Dhoni said. "But even then, he gave it his best and bowled his heart out."

Man-of-the-match Yuvraj Singh

Man-of-the-match Yuvraj Singh was on a song. He not only continued his brilliant run with the bat by scoring his second successive century but he also came up trumps with the ball, claiming four wickets, as India beat England by 54 runs to take a 2-0 lead in the seven-match One-Day Hero Honda Cup.

back-up spinners Yuvraj and Sehwag

Samit Patel (20) and Stuart Broad (22) provided some late resistance but Sehwag dismissed both and returned with figures of 3/28 from his five overs to seal the match in India's way. Come to think of it, back-up spinners Yuvraj and Sehwag claimed seven wickets between them.

Yuvraj trapped Owais leg

Just when the partnership looked like posing a serious threat, Yuvraj trapped Owais leg before in the 24th over and in his next he struck again to remove Prior

opener Gautam Gambhir with Yuvraj

Yuvraj struck two sixes and 15 fours and also cobbled a crucial century stand with in-form opener Gautam Gambhir

blazing 138 not out in the series opener at Rajkot on Friday floored England

The left-handed batsman, whose blazing 138 not out in the series opener at Rajkot on Friday floored England - they lost by a huge 158 runs - had to play in a slightly different manner to the previous effort and still came out trumps while making 118.

Second Indore ODI: India vs England - Yuvraj Singh

Yuvraj Singh, declared fit to play after recovering from his sore back, struck his second successive century to rescue India from a shaky start and steer the hosts to an imposing total of 292 for nine in the second One-Day International against England a Indore on Monday.