Work begins on a comeback

And only two matches into his comeback trail,the left-hander,has at least regained his scoring touch. On Sunday he hit a belligerent 146 for employers Air India,as they went down to ONGC in the finals of the GG Dutt Tournament.

The very next day,he took to the field again,this time wearing a Rajnigandha Club T shirt in the Lala Raghubir Rai tournament final.

Kesar Chaudhary the coach of the Rajnigandha Club said “After his Air India game,I asked him if he wanted to play and he agreed.”

Incidently,in both the matches,Yuvraj was his team’s highest scorer and unfortunately he ended up on the losing side on both occasions. Yuvraj hit 7 sixes and 13 fours in his 110-ball 146 to take AI to 263 in their stipulated 40 overs after they were tottering at 21/4. But a 75-ball 93 from Mithun Manhas saw ONGC chase down that score with two overs to spare.

On Monday,he crawled to 8 off 32 deliveries,before hitting his first boundary. As he settled down,he started to look like his old self.

“Hit it to us,Yuvraj,” screeched a gaggle of spectators who were sitting on the walls surrounding the Modern School grounds. While he didn’t heed to their request,he broke the unofficial record for the biggest six hit in the tournament. When he had last played a couple of years back,Yuvraj had sent a ball down into the tennis courts some 90 meters away. On Monday he hit two on the roof of the school building.

But unlike Sunday,he flattered to deceive. After a monster hit over mid-wicket — his third six – he went for the same shot off a fuller length delivery and top edged the ball to cover. As it stood Yuvraj’s defensive play early on meant he had consumed 80 balls for his 62.

Dagar show
Chasing 270,Collage Group never looked in trouble and opener Mukul Dagar’s 154 of 90 balls meant Rajnigandha were never in with a chance. The heat got the better of Yuvraj as he walked off the field before the match ended without bowling his left arm spin. He sat in his team’s shamiana as a pistol totting bodyguard kept the curious at bay. Meanwhile Dagar cantered and fellow opener Rameez Nemat held the fort at his end,scoring an unbeaten 81 as Collage thrashed Rajnigandha by 9 wickets and four overs to spare.

In the match against ONGC,Yuvraj had been the best batsman by far. On Monday,he looked markedly second best.

What Yuvraj still hasn’t lost is the ability to draw a crowd. Whenever his pistol packing bodyguard permitted,a swarm of fans,would pester Yuvraj for autographs and pictures until they were shooed away,prompting a fellow player to quip “selectors Bharat nahin hai!” (the selectors are not the nation)

Brief scores:Rajnigandha Club 269 for 8 (Yuvraj Singh 62,Gaurav Tomar 27,Sanjay Gill 3/51); Collage Group 270 for 1 in 35.1 overs (Mukul Dagar 154,Rameez Nemat 81,Sachin Choudhary 1/43)

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