Yuvi is best: Mortaza

The persistent rain left them with no choice but to pursue the option of practicing at ECB Cricket Academy in Loughborough University, some 40km away from Nottingham.

The temperature had dipped to 3 degree Celsius, the wind was icy but the indoor nets were a safe haven as Bangladesh looked to put itself in shape for tie against Ireland on Monday, a must-win game for them in the ICC World Twenty20.

The Saturday's defeat against India was accepted with good grace and there were words of compliment for the defending champions from all and sundry.

Mashrafee Mortaza was all smiles even though his customary dragon-slaying act against India didn't materialize on Saturday.

Mortaza didn't take a wicket from his four overs and conceded 29 runs and while batting smashed a six from eight balls but 11 runs was all he managed before losing his timbers to Pragyan Ojha.

It was Mortaza who had scuttled Indians in that seismic match of the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean, claiming four wickets for 38 runs and scaling down the target to just 192 runs for his batters.

Tamim Iqbal (51), Mushfiqur Rahim (56) and Shakibul Hasan (53) had then hit half centuries to guide their team to romp home by five wickets.

None of them made any impact on Saturday - Tamim (15) was out in the 3rd over; Shakibal Hasan's (8) mighty heave could only go as far as short midwicket and Mushfiqur Rahim limped to 11 from 11 balls.

Indians could thus get their even on probably the most humiliating loss of their cricketing history.

Yet Bangladesh was graceful in accepting the verdict.

"Indians played better cricket," started Mortaza "They were better in all departments."

Bangladesh had kept things firmly in check before Yuvraj Singh ran away with a blistering 41 off 18 balls and hauled India to safety.

Instead of cursing Yuvraj under his breath, Mortaza is all praise for the dashing left-hander.

"I have seen batsmen from all over the world but there is none to match Yuvraj Singh.

"Since I first saw him in the 2000 ICC mini World Cup in Kenya, and watched him smash 84 runs against Australia, my admiration for him has only grown."

Mortaza is similarly in awe of Zaheer Khan and rates Ishant Sharma as one of the most promising young men of international cricket.

"Zaheer is in a class of his own. He has everything under his armoury. Ishant is very promising but he has some way to go."

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'We will not be under pressure in T20 WC'

Expectation would be sky high but players would not allow the pressure to bog them down when India travels to England to defend the Twenty20 World title, star batsman Yuvraj Singh said.

The architect of India's triumph in the inaugural edition of 2007 ICC Twenty20 World, Yuvraj said the pressure of coming in as defending champions would not weigh on his mind or that of his teammates.

"There is always pressure on defending champions. But our side does not get weighed down by expectations. We just enjoy playing as a team and, generally speaking, our form in Twenty20 cricket has been good," Yuvraj said.

India will face Bangladesh and Ireland in the group stages and Yuvraj is happy with the teams for the event scheduled in June.

"It does seem like a good group. I wouldn't say it's an easy group because Twenty20 is a very unpredictable form of the game. On their day, any side can perform. I've always enjoyed playing in England the weather is great and the crowds are good.

"Also playing away from home, there is less pressure from the media. I'm really looking forward to the event. It should be a good one," the left-hander was quoted as saying by an ICC newsletter.

Recalling his sensational form in the 2007 event, Yuvraj said nothing could really match the feeling after winning the title. "Winning the World Twenty20 was the pinnacle and nothing can beat that memory or that moment. But it was not just me there are others that helped us achieve that.

There were some real highlights, like the match against Australia, the game against Pakistan in the group stages where the result was decided by the bowl-out and obviously I enjoyed hitting six sixes in an over," he said.

Yuvraj created world record by hitting England pacer Stuart Broad for six sixes in an over, soon after an exchange of words with all-rounder Andrew Flintoff.

Recalling the spat, Yuvraj said, "Altercations can have extreme effects they can fire you up to play the right shots or can completely backfire. In that match I did get fired up and got it right mentally. I remember being in the zone. I was using the crease really well, I was still and focused. I could read and see the ball so well and the rest is history.

"As the balls came at me all my balance, focus and hand-eye co-ordination felt really good. They weren't premeditated shots or just plain slogs," Yuvraj said.

Twenty20 may not be a purists' delight but Yuvraj feels the newest format has already made a positive impact on one day cricket.

"Twenty20 is pure entertainment the crowds love it and the atmosphere in the ground is always superb. It's an enjoyable format to play. I think Twenty20 cricket has changed the pace of the 50-over game, so the impact it's had has been positive," he said.

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