India need to make plans to tackle Murali: Yuvraj

Yuvraj Singh believes that Indian batsmen need to make "different plans" to tackle Muttiah Muralitharan as the ban on doosra has not reduced the spinner's destructive ability.

Yuvraj Singh believes that India's top order batsmen need to make "different plans" to tackle Muttiah Muralitharan as the ban on his most lethal delivery has not reduced the champion spinner's destructive ability.

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"He's got the same kind of turn. May be it's a difference of 97 to 100 per cent but he quite the same bowler," said Yuvraj, who made 47 against Murali despite not looking entirely comfortable against the spin wizard.

Murali has been restricted by authorities from bowling his doosra, the delivery which turns away from a right-hander, in an international match because it has been shown that he bends his arm above the permissible limit.

Yuvraj feels such is Murali class that he realises the need to develop a couple of strokes to come to terms with the bowler's rich repertoire of deliveries.

"I need to practice a couple of shots against him because he is their main bowler and turns the ball very sharply. It is also difficult to play Murali on these tracks because they suit him. We have got to make different plans for him. We have to make adjustment in our game to play him," Yuvraj said.

Yuvraj said it was this policy which made him adjust his game against Sri Lanka for he decided that he needed to hang in there in the middle.

"We were down by four wickets. I was not getting my timing right and struggling a bit. I just wanted to hang in there and have a stand with Rahul Dravid.

"We thought if we need 80-85 runs in the last 10 overs and if we had wickets in hand, we might get it in the end. We thought it was a close game," the Punjab batsman said.

"You don't think about it because when you are in a match you don't think what he is going to bowl. You just concentrate on how he has bowled that delivery.

"You don't want to put too many things in your head while facing a bowler," he said.

Yuvraj was disappointed at India's loss against the hosts and said it is wrong to say it was a wake up call or a blessing in disguise for an extremely talented team like India.

"Losing is never a blessing in disguise because everybody wants to win. Everyone hates losing and we didn't like it on Sunday. We wanted to top the table. Now we want to win all three games", he said.

The dashing middle order batsman from Punjab blamed himself for the defeat after getting out at a critical time for the team.

"I had to go for runs. I played a loose shot and took the wrong area. I think we need to improve as the tournament progresses."

It was wrong to believe that his team's batsmen were not in the best of form, claimed Yuvraj and added that in a way it reflected how highly regarded was the Indian batting line-up.

"We got 260 in the first match and 270 in the second. But we can't take Bangladesh lightly for they played well against the West Indies."