Greater Noida: It was a run feast at the Greater Noida Sports Complex for the India Blue side captained by Gautam Gambhir, who were up against an impressive India Red side on paper led by another southpaw Yuvraj Singh. The toss seemed to play a crucial factor in this pink ball game as Gambhir called right and had no hesitation in opting to bat first.

While Gambhir continued his good run of form, it was Cheteshwar Pujara who stole the show with a good showing having amassed an impressive 256 not out, leading the riot in what was a one-sided affair handing the Reds a massive 355-run defeat.

With such glitzy performances just ahead of the New Zealand series, Pujara remarked that this knock served as a good preparation for the series and that he is keenly looking forward to the contest with the Kiwis which is scheduled to begin in a week's time.

The bowlers too played their part in ensuring an all-round performance for the Blues with key contributions from Ravindra Jadeja and Pankaj Singh.

When asked about the encounter during the most match presentation, Gambhir remarked that it was always a great feeling to end up on the winning side and even more so to lead the side to victory. He also went on to congratulate Pujara for his man-of-the-match performance and wished him success on the international front too.

Yuvraj on the other hand was quick to point out that toss was a crucial factor in this game and that it is never easy for a team to stay on the field for 650+ runs and then go out there to be amongst the runs. "It was always going to be a daunting task after the kind of start they got", said the Punjabi southpaw.

Meanwhile, one would only hope that such tournaments are used as benchmarks to scout talent and expand the talent pool of the national side so that able replacements are always on the flanks and can be deployed in case of untoward incidents to the regular choices.