On a day when Sachin Tendulkar announced his retirement from Tests and film star Rekha celebrated her 59th birthday, another man made news. Yuvraj Singh was making another comeback to international cricket and, as mentioned in the prelude to the tournament, all eyes would be on the southpaw during this otherwise unnecessary event, as pointed out by Ian Chappell. And it has taken only one match for Yuvraj to prove that he still has plenty to offer to the Indian side. His blistering knock against Australia in the only T20 played at Rajkot was a sensational one by all means.
While the fact that he scored an unbeaten 77 off only 35 balls is enough to tell the tale of his domination, it was the manner in which Yuvraj went about his task that was most encouraging as far as the Indian side was concerned. When the left- hander came into bat, India were under tremendous pressure having lost their top four wickets for 100. There were less than half the overs to get the remaining runs, which was in excess of 100 itself. There must have been additional pressure on Yuvraj, this was his comeback game after all. But, to his credit, Yuvraj showed no nerves at all.
The fitness programme he underwent in France definitely seems to have aided the all-rounder. He has come back looking a lot fitter and leaner. Even out in the middle on Thursday, he batted looking rather flexible at the crease. A good way to judge Yuvraj’s form is to observe whether his pick up shots, which usually land up in the stand, were hitting the meat of the bat. It did on Thursday, and the Aussies had to suffer brutally. Yuvraj’s timing on the day was spot on, as a result of which he kept finding the gaps even as the required rate rose. The Aussies bowlers were also guilty of bowling too full to him.
Yuvraj’s knock was definitely the performance of the match, but take his innings apart and it wasn’t a pleasant effort from the rest. Chasing a 200 plus score, India needed the top order to fire. And while Rohit Sharma failed, Shikhar Dhawan, Suresh Raina and Virat Kohli all got their eyes in, they also threw their wickets away when India needed them to carry on. Had it not been for Yuvraj’s brilliance on the day, and the usual smart batting tactics of skipper M S Dhoni, India would have been in deep trouble.
Although Australia ended up on the losing side, they had a few gains from the high- scoring game. Their batting, in particular, was highly impressive. Aaron Finch, who is developing a reputation as a hard hitter of the cricket ball in T20s, was in his elements, coming up with a dazzling knock that laid the foundation for a strong Aussie total. Nic Maddinson was also sprightly at the top, and their whirlwind opening stand gave Aussie the upper hand. If anything, their late order batting, when they couldn’t utilise the slog overs, let them down. And, with Yuvraj in such amazing form, they had to pay for the same.
--By A Cricket Analyst
