Yuvraj-Raina finishing act brings comfort to Dhoni

SYDNEY: The first nine deliveries that Yuvraj Singh faced, the left-hander seemed all at sea and struggled to time the ball. There was even a faint edge to the keeper off a bouncer that went undetected off the second ball he faced. He even attempted a few ugly hoicks.
One couldn't blame him for that as it was his first hit in the middle since arriving here but for a moment one's mind went back to the World T20 final in Mirpur in 2014 where his struggles in the final overs cost India vital runs in the end overs.But then the 'big player' in him woke up and the left-hander's two clean strikes in the final over off Andrew Tye brought India close to victory before Suresh Raina finished it with a four off the last delivery.
The two left-handers in action reminded many of their 74-run partnership in the 2011 World Cup quarterfinal at Motera where they had knocked defending champions Australia out.
Dhoni reserved high praise for Raina who remained unbeaten on 49 while batting at No. 4 and said that following the six wicket win on Saturday, the "batting line-up looks good."
"Suresh Raina's performances have not been about one or two seasons. In eight seasons of IPL, he has batted at No.3 and scored the most number of runs.When he batted at No.3 for us also in one of the World T20s (in 2010), that was the time he scored a century for us. The only reason we couldn't give him that slot is because there were others who could do similar jobs in that position, but there was nobody else who could bat like how he batted at No.5 or No.6. I think also, the conditions we play in now will be quite similar to what we get during IPL, so we want to cash in on that aggression. I think we have the right mix," said Dhoni.
The skipper even sees Yuvraj settling in the role of a finisher coming in at No. 5. "Yuvi can just go and express himself batting at No.5."