Leading India to a convincing win over Sri Lanka in the second and final T20 International at Mohali, star batsman Yuvraj Singh, who turned 28 on Saturday, said that it was his "best birthday" so far.
"This is my best birthday till now. I am very happy the way we played, especially the batsmen," Yuvraj, who scored a blistering 60 of 25 balls and took three crucial wickets, told reporters at post-match conference here.
Yuvraj said that after being set an imposing target of 207, Indian openers Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir had given a good start to the team.
Playing on his home track, Yuvraj who has not had many knocks in the past here which he could cherish much, said, "now, I am happy to turn it around today. But frankly I was not expecting to score 60 of 25 balls".
Yuvraj gave a lot of credit to coach Gary Kirsten, saying the South African is like a "father figure" to the team.
"He is the best coach that I have ever played under. He understands the game and the pressure," he said, adding that he had also made some gestures towards the coach when he was playing well.
Yuvraj admitted that the team will need to raise the bar in the fielding department.
"We are not happy the way we fielded in the last two games. We missed some catches today, otherwise we could have restricted them (the Lankans) to 150-160 runs," he said.
Before coming to the press conference, Yuvraj straight away apologised for arriving late, which he said was because of the birthday celebrations which were going on in the dressing room.
"There was lot of cake on my face. M S (Dhoni) held my hands and the rest of the players kept applying it all over my face and I could not see who all were the culprits. But I will take revenge once I come to know their names," said Yuvraj, who himself does not let go the opportunity to paste the cake over the faces of his teammates at occasions.
When asked that different players were known by different names including Rahul Dravid being called as "The Wall" and the left-hander had come to be known as "Sixer King" because of his lusty hitting, Yuvraj said, "naam to achha nahein hein, badey matlab nikaltay hein (the name Sixer King is not good, many meanings emerge from it). But as long as you are doing well for the country, I don't mind whatever name I am given".
On teammate S Sreesanth testing positive for swine flu, he said, "It was sad that he tested positive. We wish him speedy recovery. We have also been asked to be careful and take precautions." PTI
