Yuvraj Singh, who spent three years out of India’s ODI side, marked his return with his career-best score – 150 off 127 balls – in his 295th ODI, against England in Cuttack. Once he reached his century – his first since the 2011 World Cup in India, where he was Man of the Tournament – Yuvraj thumped his chest and grew emotional. The 35-year-old pressed on to make 150, before edging behind in the 43rd over. His knock was instrumental in launching India from 25 for 3 to 381 for 6, and Yuvraj rated it as probably one of his best.
“Probably, one of my best – my highest score in ODIs,” Yuvraj told Star Sports. “The last time I got a hundred was the 2011 World Cup; I am pretty happy that I played a good innings.
“I just tried to get a partnership. They [England] bowled really well upfront and we just wanted to rotate the strike and get into the rhythm, and take our time. There was a lot of time. I just wanted to play down the ground and not take many risks.”
Yuvraj saw off Chris Woakes’ threatening opening burst (5-3-14-3) and rebuilt the innings with MS Dhoni before unfurling a gallery of shots, including the lofted drive over long-off and the pick-up flick over midwicket. Yuvraj credited his touch to a prolific run in the Ranji Trophy: he scored 672 runs in eight innings at 84, including a career-best 260 for Punjab against Baroda at Feroz Shah Kotla in October last year.
