Yuvraj Singh, who marked his return to form with a scintillating 76, hit back at his critics, saying every player goes through a "bad time" and there was never a question mark over his place in India's one-day team.
"I scored four half centuries in the last five one-dayers before the Australia tour. There have been only two bad games for me in the one-day series. If you are putting a question mark over my inclusion in the one-day side, you are asking me a wrong question," Yuvraj said after India's thrilling two-wicket win over Sri Lanka in a crucial CB Tri-series game.
Yuvraj said he never felt insecure about losing his place in the squad and also credited Gautam Gambhir for providing inspiration.
"Well, there never was a question mark over my place in the side. But, yes, I played more shots today. Having watched Gautam Gambhir, as he tackled Muthiah Muralitharan in Brisbane, I decided that instead of blocking, I should play my natural game."
Yuvraj was grateful for Dhoni's support during critical times and asserted that dip in form is part of international cricket.
"I know my capability. Everyone has bad times. It can't be one graph all the time. There are situations when I have done well in the past. Not able to carry on can be disappointing but you are human. You want to do best for your country.
"As for Dhoni's support, it's important for players to support each other. You hardly have any support from press when you are having a bad time," he said.
Yuvraj though added he was not satisfied with his half century.
"I am not very satisfied with my knock today. If it wasn't for Dhoni, we would have lost the game," he said.
"I should have stayed till the end and got a hundred but I guess I got a good ball," he added.
The Punjab batsman showered heaps of praise on Dhoni for the way he engineered India's win at the Adelaide Oval.
"Look at how many times he has been so consistent. I wasn't that good lower down the order for the initial part of my career.
"He is tremendous, very consistent. Young boys should take a lot of inspiration in how he is batting in such pressure situations."
uvraj wasn't willing to commit himself on whether Virender Sehwag was dropped but he did speak glowingly about the potential of the Delhi dasher.
"He is a tremendous player. I don't know whether he was dropped or injured. We bowled well with five bowlers in the last game. P K (Praveen Kumar) was given chance because we want to give chances to everyone. It's a long series.
"Viru is a tremendous player but you got to see the team combination as well. The team combination for this game was good."
He also spoke about the help Sachin Tendulkar consistently provides to him on batting.
"I always talk to Sachin. He's been my inspiration. It's important to talk to someone like him as to what to do inside in different situations."
