Pawar lauds Yuvraj for his performance in Twenty20

Kolkata, Sep 23 (UNI) BCCI Chief Sharad Pawar today singled out stylish left-hander Yuvraj Singh for his devastating performance in the Twenty20 World Cup.

''For the first 10 overs during the Indian innings I was very tense yesterday. It is because we were playing against Australia.

But the boys batted excellently in the next 10 overs and kept constant pressure while bowling,'' Pawar told mediapersons today at the Eden Gardens.

''Yuvraj's efforts deserve special praise. But at the same time, it's a triumph of team-work. The atmosphere in the dressing room is tremendous,'' he said.

When asked whether the BCCI would give any incentive to the team for reaching the Twenty20 final, Pawar said, ''Let's wait for one more game.'' To a query whether the cool performance of the Indian team under new captain M S Dhoni should put at rest speculations about the Test captaincy, the BCCI president said: ''It's completely up to the selectors and the board cannot interfere in such matters.'' A seasoned politician, Pawar, was also non-committal about the name of the new coach ahead of the Australia series.

Pawar held a meeting with Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) president Prasun Mukherjee and other working-committee members.

With the lease period of Eden Gardens lapsing, the CAB has made a application to the army, the owner of the land housing Eden Gardens, for renewal of the lease.

A few days back, West Bengal sports minister Subhas Chakraborty wrote a letter to Anthony urging him not to renew the lease in favour of the CAB so as to allow other sporting activities on the ground.

Pawar, however, batted for the CAB, ''Eden Gardens is going to be a very important venue for the 2011 World Cup and for this precise reason, the stadium will undergo an infrastructural development. For improving the infrastructure, a long-term lease is required,'' the Union Cabinet Minister said.

''I will talk with my colleagues in the government and try to resolve the issue as early as possible,'' he added.

BCCI will be giving an additional grant of Rs 25 crores for overhauling the facilities at the Eden Garden.

UNI