by Yuvraj 169 of 203 balls with 28 fours and 1 six with a One day'esque strike
rate of 83.5
http://SportToday.org/
Andrew Dunford on Yuvraj Singh last week
Gotta Laugh at Yuvraj's current form
http://SportToday.org/
I wonder why no one on rsc asked Andrew Dunford how can anyone "laugh"
at Yuvraj's "current form" based on his record and form in 2005/2006
http://SportToday.org/
Quote from todays cricinfo column:
"There is plenty left in this Test yet, but Yuvraj's innings is potentially
series-clinching for India. For himself, it could turn out to be
career-changing."
Question to be answered by rscers:
It could be potentially series-clinching for India and career-changing for
Yuvraj but would it be "perception changing" and "defining" moment
for cricket expert Andrew Dunford ?
Cricinfo on Yuvraj
http://SportToday.org/
India v Pakistan, 3rd Test, Bangalore, 1st day
A touch of Brian Lara
Sambit Bal
December 8, 2007
Perhaps the best compliment for Yuvraj Singh, who played one of the finest
innings under pressure you can hope to see, would be that he had a touch of
Brian Lara. There was the same high backlift, with the bat flowing down from
the eye level, the quick hands, malleable wrists, sensational timing and
perfect placement. To top it all, there was the part that couldn't be seen,
only sensed: the ability to create a bubble where the external factors - a
fresh pitch with a tinge of green, the hole that his team was in when he
walked in, and the fact that he was playing for Test spot - ceased to
matter.
Yuvraj and Sourav Ganguly, for whom no praise can be too high, did for India
what Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman have long been renowned for doing, but it
will be no discredit to Ganguly to say Yuvraj's brilliance shaded his second
successive hundred. Not that he would have grudged it a whit: his eyes shone
brighter when he celebrated his team-mate's century than when he reached his
own. No one present at the ground, even his opponents, could stay untouched
by the breathtaking majesty of this innings.
At lunch, Indian would have felt a touch despondent. They had won the toss
and chosen to bat knowing that the pitch, which had been under covers for
the best part of the last few days, would be soft and offer seam movement.
But given their reliance on spin, in the absence of a full-strength pace
bowling attack, it was the only option available. Pakistan's bowlers wasted
the first hour somewhat by either spraying the ball wide or bowling too
short, but Yasir Arafat changed the course by introducing commonsense, and
bowling close to the stumps. At 61 for 4, India were in the danger of having
to bowl with the second new ball of the day.
Two significant things happened after lunch. Shoaib Akhtar - is he
Pakistan's biggest match-winner or their biggest liability? - went off
clutching his back. Far more importantly for India, Yuvraj batted like a
dream. He was hit on the head once and played and missed outside off-stump a
couple of times, and there was an edge off Danish Kaneria that Younis Khan
put down but, rather than being intimidated by the situation, he chose to
trust his game. He melted the pressure by allowing himself the freedom to
play his strokes and by tea it was the bowling side that looked hunted.
Yuvraj's driving on the offside was sensational, both off the front and back
foot, and the bowlers were clueless about what length to bowl to him. Some
cover drives were played with the full flourish of the bat and some were
punched exquisitely. Initially, Mohammed Sami and Arafat tried to cramp him
by bowling straight and he either punched them down the ground or picked
them through midwicket, generating velocity with his back-lift and wrists.
Ganguly kept him company by piercing the offside either side of the cover
fielder and the 127 runs they scored in the middle session changed the
course of the innings.
After tea, Pakistan were reduced to damage control. Sami sought to deny
Yuvraj by bowling a couple of feet outside off stump while Kaneria chose to
bowl his googlies from outside leg. And two men were stationed behind square
on the leg side for the top-edge to the occasional bouncer. Yuvraj refused
to be baited but neither did he slow down. He stayed away from the wide
balls but put away everything in driving range. When the sweeper was posted
at cover, he still managed to hit the ball wide of him; his only pull was
hit through midwicket, all along the ground. As the day progressed and the
pitch eased, fours became inevitable, irrespective of the bowler and the
field. At the end of his innings, his wagon wheel offered evidence of his
all-round domination: 92 on the onside, 77 on the off, 50 between point and
cover, 37 between square leg and midwicket. Ten of his 28 fours were hit
though cover and five through midwicket.
The innings was littered with dazzling strokes but a couple will stay in the
mind. The first was a mere push, perhaps a defensive jab, at a full ball
from Sami; such was the balance and timing that the ball sped past a bemused
mid-on fielder to the boundary. The second was a back-foot cover drive to a
ball from Arafat that deserved nothing more than a dead bat. By then,
though, Yuvraj was long past his hundred and the merit of the ball had
ceased to be of consequence. At that supreme moment, you felt in awe of the
batsman but it was difficult not to feel sorry for the bowler.
To Indian fans who have long been riled by the tendency of Pakistan's
batsmen to reserve their best for India - Zaheer Abbas and Javed Miandad
have been succeeded by Kamran Akmal (three of his four Test hundreds against
India) and Salman ***(all his four one-day hundreds) - Yuvraj's third Test
century against the old enemy would seem soothing retribution. That might be
missing the story, because of far more significance is another common
thread: each of these centuries have come when his team was in desperate
trouble. On a green top at Lahore in 2004, India were 94 for 4 and 147 for
7; at Karachi in 2006, they were 74 for 4 and Mohammed Asif was in the
middle of a dream spell, having knocked out Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman
in quick succession. To each crisis Yuvraj has offered his fulsome and
natural brilliance. His stroke-making has always expectional, but his three
Test centuries have demonstrated that he has that special ability to play
them all when the chips are down.
His latest hundred has given the Indian management a happy headache. They
will have one hell of a decision to make when they sit down to pick the team
for the next Test, in Australia. Despite his outstanding run in the shorter
version of the game, doubts have lingered over the suitability of his
technique and temperament for cricket's most challenging form. Yuvraj has
banished those misgivings with an innings of such force and pedigree that to
keep him out would be a brave decision - and may ultimately be a foolish
one.
There is plenty left in this Test yet, but Yuvraj's innings is potentially
series-clinching for India. For himself, it could turn out to be
career-changing.