Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir's match winning opening partnership of 155 runs had both the captains -- Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Shoaib Malik -- singing their praise after India's crushing victory over Pakistan in the second match of the tri-series in Dhaka on Tuesday.
India beat Pakistan by a comprehensive 140-run margin after setting a huge target of 331, build on the brilliant first wicket partnership by the Delhi duo of Sehwag and Gambhir, who scored 89 and 62 respectively. In reply, Pakistan were bowled out for 190 in just 35.4 overs, giving India it's biggest win against them.
"They displayed exceptional running between the wickets. They took singles even on good deliveries. Credit goes to the batsmen," Dhoni said after the match.
The Indian captain said his bowlers also deserve credit for exploiting the conditions better than the opposition. Praveen Kumar (4 for 53) spoiled Pakistan's run-chase, claiming three quick wickets, including two off consecutive deliveries. Young spinner Piyush Chawla also returned brilliant figures of 4-40.
"It was a good start. It was a good toss to win as wicket gets slower as the game progresses. Bowler bowled well. Ishant [Sharma], Praveen [Kumar], [Irfan] Pathan and [Piyush] Chawla did well. We exploited the conditions well," he said.
- Images: India rout Pakistan in Dhaka:
With youngsters performing well, Dhoni said picking the last eleven has become a headache for them.
"It is good to have bench strength. But it is tough to keep players out [of the side]. It is tough to leave a bowler like RP Singh. We have to give chances to everyone in between and they have to cash," he said.
Malik praised India's opening batsmen, but added that his bowlers made it easy for them by not bowling in the right areas.
They are a brilliant pair, they batted superbly. We have got a decent attack but we did not bowl in the right areas. We had playing good cricket for some time and it was a bad day," Malik said.
Sehwag, who was named the man of the match, said he found it difficult to shift the gears from Twenty20 cricket to one-dayers.
"Of course after Twenty20, it was difficult to leave the balls. It was good track to bat and ball was coming on to the bat in the first 10 overs. But after that it was coming and stopping. I waited for bad deliveries and just build on that," Sehwag said.
The flamboyant batsman also spoke about his brilliant tuning with Gambhir, saying: "We have good understanding. It is easy to play with him. We have been playing in the Delhi team as well and now for India."
