Being unable to win despite piling up a total of 338 must have been disheartening, but there was one consolation for India from the tie against England in Bangalore on Sunday. Yuvraj Singh got back into form with a power-packed 58 and although it got overshadowed by the centuries scored by Sachin Tendulkar and Andrew Strauss, the impact the left-hander made was hard to overlook.
England appeared to have come out with a ploy against him. Battered by Yuvraj during the ODI series in India in 2008, they tried to restrict him with short-pitched deliveries. Aware of his destructive ability to drive through the off side, the bowlers tried to alter the line and length, with minimal effect. Yuvraj was pulling with power and playing through the mid-wicket, mid-on region with superb timing when the ball was fuller.
It was not without reason that MS Dhoni had something to be happy about after what must have been a disappointing outing. “Yuvraj getting back among the runs is a big positive. All the other batsmen were getting runs of late, including in the couple of warm-up games. He was the only one not getting too many runs and to see him score some was very satisfying.”
Yuvraj was aware of this and had sounded low when told that his bowling was more talked about in the build-up to the World Cup, here before the practice match against Australia on February 13. “Obviously, I'm a batsman first. My primary responsibility is to score runs,” Yuvraj had said.
{{/usCountry}}Yuvraj was aware of this and had sounded low when told that his bowling was more talked about in the build-up to the World Cup, here before the practice match against Australia on February 13. “Obviously, I'm a batsman first. My primary responsibility is to score runs,” Yuvraj had said.
{{/usCountry}}Pressed further to elaborate on his responsibility, Yuvraj had said that it was about batting according to situations and adjusting his game accordingly. On Sunday, he showed signs of living up to those words.