Mahendra Singh Dhoni's team warmed up for the Champions Trophy with an impressive five-wicket win against Sri Lanka at Edgbaston on Saturday. Virat Kohli (144) teamed up with Dinesh Karthik (106 not out) to rescue India from a shaky start with a 186-run stand for the fifth wicket in just 23.2 overs to chase down a mammoth target of 334 with one over to spare.

While speaking to the media, ‘birthday boy’ Karthik termed the day as a special one while reflecting on the game.

Excerpts from the press conference:

On whether this was the best knock on his birthday

I think so. Yes. I don’t remember the last time I played a game on my birthday so this was a special one.

On the wicket

It was a flat wicket. (The ball was) stopping a little bit, (it was) tough to drive on till you get set but overall it was a good wicket. It had a lot of runs for both teams. So it was a good one-day wicket.

On whether the form continued for him and Virat Kohli from the IPL

Virat was one of the top five run-getters so obviously it gives a lot of confidence. I have also been batting well. It is important that you transfer that confidence into this tournament.

On whether the Mumbai Indians IPL victory has helped the confidence

It always feels good to win a big tournament. I am very happy with the way we played there. What is important is we take CT as a fresh tournament and do well in this tournament.

On the match against Pakistan

We will take it as another match. We will have to see how we do in the first two games. Depending on that we will know how the Pakistan game is going to pan out for us. As I said the Pakistan game is no different from the game against South Africa. If you treat as another normal game and try and go and do your best then I am sure we will do well.

On whether he was surprised by how familiar the conditions seemed

Lot of times in England and Australia the wicket has good bounce, it doesn’t seam around too much as such but this was a good wicket to bat on from ball one and there was not much seam movement. It was a little surprising that the wicket was so true. It is a good thing for one-day cricket (640-plus runs).

On where he likes to bat

I am very happy batting in the middle-order. I feel that it brings out the best in me.