Who Said What: Cricketers react as India clinch ODI series win over Sri Lanka

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Dhawan's unbeaten century helped India home comfortably

An unbeaten century from Shikhar Dhawan coupled with another fifty for Shreyas Iyer helped India beat Sri Lanka by eight wickets in the third ODI at Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam.

Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to field. Three-wicket hauls for Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav helped India bowl Sri Lanka out for 215. In reply, India lost the skipper early but Dhawan and Iyer put on 135-run partnership for the second wicket. After Iyer departed, Dinesh Karthik and Dhawan saw India through to a series victory with 17.5 overs to spare.

Man of the Match Kuldeep Yadav

"Obviously their batsmen were set and we knew needed wickets in the middle overs and the plan worked out for me. The wicket is good for spin and it's just a preparation that matters. Whenever you don't play you practice and work hard on your fitness and when you get a chance you try and put up your best performance."

Man of the Series Shikhar Dhawan

"I feel that I'm at my best and I know my game very well know and I'm happy that I've been able to do it consistently. Whenever I score fifty, most of the times I try and convert it into a hundred and the conversion rate is good as well. At the end of the day, you try and win games as a team and individual performances come later. I want to thank the crowd, they have been phenomenal."

Sri Lanka captain Thisara Perera

"Really disappointing for us. We played well in the first game, and it is a good chance to beat India in India, but our bowlers didn't execute the plans well in the last couple of games. We got good start today, but the middle order didn' capitalize and so we couldn't put enough runs on the board. He (Akila Dananjaya) is a very good talent and he has a great future. That's why I gave him the new ball. We have to stay at present and think about the future."

Here are the reactions from the cricket fraternity:

Another series & another victory. Great all-round performance by the entire team. Coming back & winning the series after an unexpected defeat in the first game is truly commendable, #TeamIndia. My best wishes for the T20 series. #INDvSL????? pic.twitter.com/LA96weSj76

— Suresh Raina (@ImRaina) December 17, 2017

Well played @BCCI and winning the series. SL had a good start but couldn’t stay in the game. Lessons to learn and more hard work.

— Mahela Jayawardena (@MahelaJay) December 17, 2017

Afraid India have toyed with Sri Lanka's bowling here. And Dhawan has just run away with the game.

— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) December 17, 2017

Congratulations team india Well done boy's good win 2-1 ??? @circleofcricket @ICC @BCCI

— Mohammad Shami (@MdShami11) December 17, 2017

A big feature of this young Indian team is that whoever is thrown an opportunity to make a mark, has grabbed their chances. Chahal, Kuldeep, Shreyas... great sight @BCCI #INDvSL

— Anjum Chopra (@chopraanjum) December 17, 2017

There was plenty of praise for India's wrist spinners, who turned the game.

Yuzvendra Chahal looks a Proper leg spinner .... #INDvSL

— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) December 17, 2017

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From ‘all set to score 325+’ to ‘Will SL bat 50 overs’ in one Kuldeep Yadav over. #IndvSL

— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) December 17, 2017

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