Yuvraj Singh in India squad to take pressure of MS Dhoni's shoulders, says Virat Kohli

New Delhi: In a sensational revelation, India captain Virat Kohli on Saturday said that veteran all-rounder Yuvraj Singh was picked to ease the burden on the outgoing skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

"Yes, that (experience) is something we have discussed before picking Yuvi because we cannot leave so much burden on MS (Dhoni) alone in the middle order," Kohli said on the eve of the first of three One-Day Internationals against England.

Kohli, who replaced Dhoni as the captain of Team India across all three formats also hailed Yuvraj's experience, saying the southpaw's presence will lend solidity to the inexperienced middle order.

"I am willing to take up responsibility up the order, but there needs to be one more guy with him (Dhoni) down the order in case the top order doesn't fire," he added.

Yuvraj, 35, last played an ODI for India on December 11, 2013 in South Africa, even though he was a part of the T20I team for majority of India's campaign in the ICC World T20 last year.

He lost that spot too after the tournament, thanks to an injury. He missed two short series against Zimbabwe and West Indies. But this time, he is ready for a long-haul flight.

Kohli said the team's think-tank needed to get its combination right quickly as these were the only games it had in its hands before the Champions Trophy in June.

"If the top order doesn't fire you are left with MS alone and he is guiding the youngsters more often than not. Which is fine, if you have 15-20 games till a big tournament (begins). But when you have only three games to prepare for a big tournament, I think you need to get all your resources in place," Kohli explained.

The India-England series will resume on Sunday with the first of the three ODI matches in Pune. The One-dayers will be followed by a three-match T20I series.