On his return to the one-day team, the Punjab youngster played with an aura that was at once nostalgic of Nairobi.
India always seem to do spectacularly well in must-win situations –round-robin games needed to be won for qualification, matches needed to keep aseries alive, targets to be obtained to maintain a qualifying run-rate. On allof these occasions, they manage to find one man to carry the team. On Saturdayat Hyderabad, that man was Yuvraj Singh.
Freshly drafted, along with Murali Kartik, into the squad for the final twoone-dayers, Yuvraj was coming off a booming double century in the Duleep Trophy,an innings resounding with trademark strokes at trademark strike-rates. Withthat kind of streak, he must have been disappointed that he could not slip intogloves and pads straight away, having to first field for 50 overs as StuartCarlisle won the toss and opted to bat.
India's opening bowlers responded with aggression to a two-paced,unpredictable pitch, with both Zaheer Khan and Ajit Agarkar maintaining tightline and length. Agarkar struck first, removing the in-form Alistair Campbellcaught off a nippy delivery in the slips. Three balls later, Agarkar againdelivered surprising pace, this time Travis Friend gloving a bouncer to AjayRatra.
Dion Ebrahim and a freshly returned Andy Flower settled down after the earlyblows to sedately milk the bowling, but controlled medium-pace from SouravGanguly proved the downfall of the former. Attempting to hit the Indian skipperover mid-wicket, Ebrahim (38, 74b, 5x4) only presented Dravid with his secondcatch of the day.
Andy and Grant Flower did some consolidation of their own, running wellbetween the wickets and resorting to the boundary only when needed. Grant made45 (58b, 4x4) before he hit Harbhajan Singh down Dinesh Mongia's throat. Andy,on his part, proceeded calmly to reverse-sweep as to the manner born, punishingKartik in particular. Zaheer Khan finally removed the southpaw caught behind for89 (107b, 6x4), but Carlisle hurried to 40 (33b, 3x4) in helping Zimbabwe reach240 for eight. For India, Agarkar's analysis of 12-2-32-4 was the definingfactor in restricting their opponents.
But even that target seemed distant when Douglas Hondo had Ganguly caught byGrant Flower for just seven. Dinesh Mongia, who has been in good form duringthis series, has not been able to convert starts into big scores. Here again,presented with an opportunity to do his reputation and record reams of good, hefell after an attractive 30, hitting five fours in his 32-ball innings.
VVS Laxman, playing an international match in his home ground for the veryfirst time, looked to serve up a sizzling display of batting for his loyalsupporters, but, two fine boundaries later, he was tamely caught behind offFriend for 13 (21b). Suddenly, at 56 for three, Zimbabwe looked menacing underthe lights of the Lal Bahadur Shastri stadium.
Dravid and Mohammad Kaif put on 76 runs for the fourth wicket, with theformer blocking resolutely when needed and turning the ball off the square forsingles otherwise. Kaif, however, was the real revelation; after his fightingknock at Kochi, he gave further evidence of his level-headedness. Even whenDravid was bowled by Grant Flower for 32 (56b, 3x4), Kaif fought on. The stage,however, was not his any more from that point onwards.
Hailed by many as the future of Indian cricket after his blitzes at Kenyaagainst Australia, Yuvraj slipped thereafter in form and consequently nationalreckoning. But on his return to the one-day team, he played with an aura thatwas at once nostalgic of Nairobi and futuristic in execution.
Boundaries flowed at will as Yuvraj cut, pulled and drove both slower andfaster bowlers; Grant Flower could only watch as one delivery was dispatchedwith contempt for six. The Punjab youngster raced along to catch up with Kaif,who, every time he was on strike, sensibly ran a hard single so that he couldwatch the histrionics at the other end.
One misjudged run ended Kaif's innings on 68 (101b, 3x4), but with less than20 runs to get at that stage, India were clear favourites. It may have beenAgarkar who hit the winning boundary in the first ball of the 49th over, butHyderabad applauded Yuvraj Singh (80, 60b, 8x4, 1x6) all the way to thepavilion.