Bhuvneshwar scored 53 and raised a 100-run partnership with Dhoni for the unbeaten eight wicket to guide India to a three-wicket win over the hosts last night.
"When I went in to bat, MS told me to play my natural game like I play in Test cricket and don't take any pressure as we had a lot of overs at that time. We knew if we played them out we would chase easily," Bhuvneshwar said at the post match press conference.
Lankan off-spinner Akila Dananjaya took six for 54, his maiden ODI five-wicket haul, to trigger Indian middle order collapse after an aggressive start from Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan.
"It was a little surprising because we had a very good opening partnership. Then 3-4 wickets fell quickly so it was a bit of a panic situation for us. There was no message as such from the dressing room or MS Dhoni.
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Asked how he countered Dananjaya, who was on fire, Bhuvneshwar said,"I had a plan against him."
"He is an off-spinner but he was also bowling leg spinners and googlies so it was a surprise for us. I just wanted to play him for the wrong one or the googlies, which he was bringing in to me. And whatever was going away from me I wasn't really worried about that.
A key highlight of his partnership with Dhoni was running between wickets. Also the turning moment came when Dhoni played onto his stumps in the 34th over but the bails didn't come down. Kumar also survived a DRS shout for LBW in the next over and then played some attacking shots to take India to victory as Dhoni held fort at the other end.
"MS said play as you want to play. So at one particular stage I felt that I could play some attacking but risk free shots on which I had full confidence. So it's not like that he gave me any responsibility or asked me to play any big shots. It's just that the stage was such that I had confidence on myself that if I get such a ball I can hit it," he added.
"I never thought in my dreams that I would score fifty in One-dayers. Not fifty but match winning knock because One Day is a kind of format which doesn't suit my batting as I am not the kind of batsman who can hit big sixes.
"But that kind of situation was perfect for me because it was totally a Test match situation. Thanks to Sanjay Bangar, he was working really hard on me during the Test series. Whenever I go into the nets Bangar helps me to counter those things, like I have to go through the last session of a Test. So it was same kind of situation and that was a bit familiar for me," he signed off.