"It is more about him (Mendis). If he bowls a bad ball then punish him and build up pressure on him. If you continue to defend him then you know he will also be on top," Dhoni said.

"It is very important that whenever he bowled a bad bowl we will get runs out of them so that you know he (Mendis) gets under a bit of pressure," Dhoni said after winning the match by 33 runs to take 2-1 lead in the five-match series.

"I think S Badri(nath)'s effort was great. He took on Mendis. He went for a big shot but that is what you need to do at times to put some pressure on the bowler. Till now he (Mendis) was never under any sort of pressure. So he was bowling at his best," he added.

His match-winning 76-run knock notwithstanding, Dhoni said India won the third one-dayer in Colombo because of a team effort with no body having a bad day and would prefer it this way in the coming matches as well.

"It is better to have a contributory effort while winning a match but we are not relying on one individual," he said.