‘Yuvraj, one of the best ever'

Chennai: Kumar Sangakkara was a proud skipper as he spoke after Kings XI Punjab scored a memorable win over Chennai Super Kings.

Excerpts:

On the victory

Yeah! Every game was important to us, including the three that we lost. But we were in great positions in those games. In this one, I think we came from behind to really steal [the win] at the end and the team responded well to the pressure and to the expectations to got out there and win.

On Juan Theron's bowling

I thought he bowled unbelievably well. He was just off the plane and that was exactly what we were looking for from him. It’s nice to see that he kept it very simple and trusted his strengths and he delivered. So did Yuvraj [Singh] for us ... he batted magnificently in the two innings that he had. And credit goes to everyone out there ... the fielders who backed the bowlers up. Piyush Chawla and Ramesh Powar, who was brought in especially for this game. He really responded ... Shalabh [Srivastava], Irfan [Pathan], everyone who bowled really did the job for us.

On Mahela Jaywardene’s batting in Super Over

I don't think it was surprising to our camp, because he is one of the guys who rotates the ball. He has got great skills and touch, deflections. He is very good on the short ball, great against spin. So he is the kind of guy as a lynchpin, so that players like Yuvraj [Singh] and Irfan [Pathan] can express themselves.

On Murali bowling Super Over

No, I think we were expecting that. He bowled brilliantly in this game. It’s good for Sri Lankan cricket that he is back to his best, but not for Kings XI Punjab. So we expected him to do really well. And we expected him to bowl the Super Over, it was a wicket that was difficult to play spin on.

On whether he thought the win was possible

No, at the start of the 20th over, I thought we will win this. There was a lucky little edge that went through [off the] first ball. Then a couple of singles [were] sneaked. But you know the last two balls – a lot of credit to Irfan [Pathan] for holding his nerve and then bowling those balls in the right place. And you know once that catch was taken we were hoping for a Super Over, when the scores were tied. So it was good that it happened.

On the win

Well, we have got to get our heads around the fact that we won this game by not really playing to our best ability. So there is a lot more that we can offer the team as individuals. Those are things we kind of get from the players and we can only get better from here. As performances go, you are never sure of a win in Twenty20. But what you can ensure is that you [are disciplined] and you perform consistently well. And that puts you in great position to win games.

On Yuvraj Singh

My personal view of Yuvraj is that he is one of the best stroke-players I have ever seen playing cricket. You know batsmen like that, sometimes they do come a cropper trying to deliver for the side. But today was an example when he went in, soaked up the pressure in two instances and did the hard work for the side. I think it’s great to have him with that attitude, coming back into form. And we are just expecting him to get better and better. But to me always Yuvraj has been that one player who can win games, change games. But at the same time as a side you must understand there are six other batsmen to support each other and score the runs. One of them, including Yuvraj, might not have a great outing, might fail once or twice, but then that's why there are other batsmen in the side to deliver. So when [they] have that confidence in each other and that trust, you will find that batting sides do really well.