Gautam Gambhir played crucial knocks in the finals of two world events that India have won - 2007 World T20 and 2011 World Cup. And in both these events, one man who played a major role in India's triumph, was Yuvraj Singh. On Tuesday, Gambhir aggressively defended Yuvraj who has been copping flak for his tardy innings in the final of the World T20 last Sunday which India lost to Sri Lanka.

"Yuvraj has been the greatest match-winner for India and he still is. Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) went berserk in the auction to get Yuvi but lost to Royal Challengers Bangalore. I maintain that if there was an auction today, I will still go all out to have him in my team," Gambhir, the KKR captain, said during a promotional event here on Tuesday.

Gambhir lashed out at those who singled out Yuvraj for India's defeat on Sunday. "I don't think any of the current players think he was the sole reason. The ex-cricketers and media need to be careful while targeting an individual and need to know that 11 players win or lose the match for a team."

Asked about not bidding for Virender Sehwag who has done well opening again with Gambhir for Delhi in the domestic T20 tournament recently, the 32-year-old said, "I don't make the final strategy for KKR. But we needed a middle-order batsman of Yuvraj's calibre."

While the notion is that Virat Kohli was left to do too much all by himself in Dhaka, the southpaw said that batsmen at the top of the order always get to do most of the scoring. "There are only 120 balls in a T20 match. Naturally, the ones batting at number 1, 2 and 3 will get the maximum balls to face. And there is no question of Indian batting over-relying on Virat."

Now that IPL is a week away, Gambhir says he is pleased to have Morne Morkel in his team.

"Morne Morkel has been the best fast bowler I have ever faced. I have faced the Dale Steyns and the Brett Lees but he is the toughest to face among all of them. With Morne's pace and Sunil Narine in the ranks, we should do well."