Indian captain M.S. Dhoni felt winning the toss in the second Test Match against Sri Lanka here in Kanpur was crucial as the wicket was ideal for batting on the opening day of the Test Match, where India posted a mammoth 400 plus total for the loss of two wickets before putting the Sri Lankans

under pressure. India went onto win the Test by an innings and 144 runs inside four days, their biggest against Sri Lanka.

"It was a good toss to win. I felt the wicket was the best to bat on on the very first day. There was a bit of pace; it was the kind of wicket where the batsmen could effectively score. After that, as the days progressed, the wicket got slower and slower,"Dhoni told journalists.

"The wicket had a role in the win because it kept getting slower. If you bowled with good line and length, it was difficult to score runs. We kept up the pressure from both ends with pacers and spinners. We did concede a

few runs in between but it was important to build pressure during a partnership so that the batsmen feel the game is not moving. In our benefit, we got regular intervals and that makes a lot of difference because the momentum the batting side wants to get doesn’t happen."

He felt that the run out of in form Mahela Jayawardene when Sri Lanka were following on gave India the complete control and denied any hopes of a draw for the tourists.

"I don’t think they surrendered. Once you are 400-odd runs behind with two and a half days left, you don’t see any motivation left in the game. It was more of a mind game from that point of view. You have to motivate

yourself. It gets very difficult. If you know you have to play 120-130 overs, you can look to do that. But all of a sudden, you don’t see any end to it when you have to play 220-230 overs. Mahela’s run out was very crucial. I believe that affected Sanga also. They didn’t really surrender

but it was more about the situation."