Dead rubbers usually make for a boring spectacle. There is nothing at stake for both teams and it’s tough to get motivated for a match like this especially when your team is through to the knockout rounds. But for Yuvraj Singh, the match against Australia was anything but a dead rubber.
Yesterday as the batsman walked in to bat, someone made a joke on twitter: Given Yuvi’s current form, even Stuart Broad will be lining up to bowl to him.
India’s Yuvraj Singh, left, carries teammate Virat Kohli on his back as they celebrate their win over Australia. AP
For those who have come in late, it was a reference to the six sixes that Yuvraj smashed in one Broad over in the 2007 World T20. The tweet, obviously made it jest, ironically had a ring of truth to it. The left-hander had simply not had any impact for India. He was dropping catches in the outfield, not bowling much (just one over bowled so far) and looking scratchy in the middle.
And it really hasn’t been just this tournament. After his return to the team following treatment for cancer, his form has been patchy at best. A few good T20 knocks interspersed with failures in ODIs.
The pace of the wickets in Dhaka hasn’t been to his liking and in three games before running into Australia, Yuvraj had managed just 11 runs. There was talk that perhaps he needed to be dropped but India decided to give him another chance and rest Shikhar Dhawan instead.
It was a chance for Yuvraj to get his bearings and he needed to make the most of it.
The innings started off slowly – he made his way to 6 off 13 balls with just singles and no boundaries. Then Bollinger gifted him a half-volley outside the off-stumo. Yuvraj leaned into the shot, didn’t try to hit it too hard and got his first four of the innings.
The shot gave him some confidence but he still wasn’t the Yuvraj of old. He was still feeling his way in the middle. Another four off Brad Hodge in the 13 over signalled that he was ready to cut loose.
But then Muirhead came to the party for India. Two consecutive ball were pitched short and Yuvraj rocked back for both of them and smashed them both for sixes. Two balls, two sixes ( and suddenly, it seemed like Yuvraj was never in bad form.
A few overs later – a six and four off Starc were further evidence that he was finding his feet. That really was the key – when Yuvraj is in bad form, his footwork just isn’t there and that is how he was at the start of the innings.
But by the time, Watson ran in to bowl the 18th over of the innings, the butterflies were gone and Yuvraj was ready to pounce. Two fours and a six which got Yuvraj to his fifty showed that perhaps India’s opponents have another batsman to worry about now.
If Yuvraj is on his game — as he was in the World T20 (2007) and World Cup (2011), it takes something special to beat India. He eventually ended up with 60 off 43 balls including 5 fours and 4 sixes. He even put on 84 runs for the fifth wicket with Dhoni — taking the total from 4-66 to 5-150.
While it wasn’t a vintage knock but he’s getting there and for now, that is good enough.
Yuvraj comes back to life in dead rubber vs Australia
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