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here are few more terrifying sights for international the Test side, although he played what might yet go down as
bowlers than the left-handed Yuvraj Singh in full swing, whether a defining innings last December, when he helped rescue India
it be hitting the spinners straight down the ground or carting the from the depths of 61 for four in the Bangalore Test against
quicks over deep midwicket. It remains an eternal frustration Pakistan by scoring 169 and adding 300 for the fifth wicket with
to the Indian selectors that the outrageously gifted Yuvraj has Sourav Ganguly.
only occasionally fulfilled his potential in the Test arena, but
when it comes to limited-overs cricket, few have been able to But it was his performance at the World Twenty20 in 2007 that
match him. really cemented Yuvraj’s standing on the international stage
and ensured that he would be rewarded with a captaincy role in
Yuvraj does most things with a swagger which some feel borders the inaugural Indian Premier League. If his performance against
on arrogance, but wouldn’t you walk around with a spring in England was spectacular – those six sixes helped him compile an
your step if you could hit the ball as far as he can? Playing against astonishing 12-ball half-century – then he repeated his heroics
England in the 2007 ICC World Twenty20 in Durban, Yuvraj hit six three days later against Australia, crashing 70 in 30 balls with
sixes in an over from the fast bowler Stuart Broad to indelibly five sixes. One of them, off his old sparring-partner and future
etch his name in the record books alongside Sir Garfield Sobers, Kings XI Punjab team-mate Brett Lee, measured 119 metres – the
Ravi Shastri and Herschelle Gibbs as the only men to have longest in the tournament.
performed the feat in top-class cricket. Yuvraj had only recently
disappeared for five successive sixes himself during a one-day Such moments, of course, raise expectations to sometimes
international against England at The Oval, where the damage unmanageable levels, and his run tally of 299 in the Indian
was done by Dimitri Mascarenhas, but it was characteristic of Premier League may have struck some as below par for his
this proud Punjabi that he responded by going one better. high standards. But the weight was lifted off his shoulders by
the performances of Kumar Sangakkara and Shaun Marsh, and
The potential was always there. Ever since Yuvraj strode onto Yuvraj’s competition strike-rate of 162 – higher than any other
the world stage at the age of 18 in October 2000 with an innings member of his franchise – underlined the fact that he was still
of 84 off 80 balls against an Australian attack that included scoring as quickly as ever.
Glenn McGrath, Brett Lee and Jason Gillespie in the mini-World
Cup in Nairobi, onlookers have marvelled at his clean-hitting. Besides, there were enough flashes of Yuvraj genius to keep
He followed that with an innings of 41 in 35 balls as Indian beat spectators happy. In his second innings he took 57 off 34 balls
South Africa in their next game. Two years later, he played a against Rajasthan Royals, and in his third he finished with an
famous innings in a one-day final against England at Lord’s. With undefeated 40 off 29 deliveries to steer Kings XI to victory over
India struggling at 146 for five in pursuit of an unlikely 326 to Delhi Daredevils. Then, with his side already safely through to
win, Yuvraj calmly added a match-winning 121 with Mohammad the last four, he thrilled the Mohali faithful by hammering 49 off
Kaif in fewer than 18 overs to turn the game on its head. His 16 deliveries, including five sixes off his last seven balls, to set
innings of 69 still haunts England fans today. up a match-winning total of 221 for three against the apparently
invincible Rajasthanis.
The son of the Punjabi movie star Yograj Singh, who took the
wicket of the former India coach John Wright during his only Test Yuvraj and Co may have come unstuck in the semi-finals against
match, against New Zealand, Yuvraj also made an impressive Chennai Super Kings, but he had done enough, both as a
start to his Test career, hitting 112 in only his third appearance batsman and a leader, to cement his place at the high table of
against Pakistan at Lahore in April 2004. Inconsistencies at the Indian cricket.
highest level have always meant he has been in and out of
