MS Dhoni hails Yuvraj Singh

India captain MS Dhoni has praised Yuvraj Singh for his performance against England on Thursday.

The 31-year-old took three wickets for 19 runs from four overs and scored 38 runs for the home side, as they defeated the tourists by five wickets in their first Twenty20 international in Pune.

"Yuvraj was brilliant," BBC Sport quotes Dhoni as saying. "He bowled really well at the right pace and he made sure the batsmen coming in after him did not have too much work to do.

"The way Alex Hales started (the England opener scored 56 runs), the pressure was on the bowlers.

"So it was important that from the eighth over onwards we brought the team back into game, once the ball became slightly old."

The second game of the series will be held in Mumbai on Saturday.