India Blue8217;s two-match purple patch

Earlier,there were few signs that it was going to be a run-fest and in fact,India Red won the toss and put India Blue to bat. There was something in the wicket at the start,but Umesh Yadav and Abhimanyu Mithun sprayed the ball around,conceding as many as 10 wides in the first seven overs. Captain Yusuf Pathan brought Suraj Yadhav in and the medium pacer struck with his second ball,getting Naman Ojha caught behind and India Blue were on 33/1,with eleven of the runs coming from extras,and the batsmen still looking shaky.

Easing off pressure

Pathan was expected to put some pressure on new comer Manish Pandey,someone who was clearly under the gun due to his failure against Delhi on Thursday. Instead,Pandey found the field spread out and he was just on five when he had to bat without any catching fielders in place. Akshath Reddy impressed with his ability to play in the V,and rotated the strike with ease to keep the pressure at bay.

With the fielding restrictions over,Pathan called on Shahbaaz Nadeem,a bowler who can be relied upon to keep things tight. The field was spread,however,and there were no catchers and Reddy was allowed to accumulate without risk. In the last game,Delhi skipper Virat Kohli had left-arm spinner Varun Sood bowl with a six-three field,with several fielders in the circle. Obstructed from stealing singles,Reddy slogged to get out.

Pandey,allowed to settle,overcame his nerves and began to overpower the India Red bowling. In the 25th over Reddy completed his second fifty in the tournament while Pandey followed suit in the next over. Pandey displayed shots all around the park and when he was eventually bowled by Umesh Yadav in the 34th over,India Blue were 176/2 and a heavy partnership of 143 runs came to an end.

A total of 300 was on the cards,but with an-inform middle order to contend with,the Red bowlers were in for a worse time. Reddy was out in the 37th over,and the run rate at that time was 5.2. The fall of that wicket brought together Yuvraj and Abhishek Nayar,and the pair did not waste any time in getting the final assault going.

Nayar played perfect cover drives,lofted shots over the bowlers head,pulls shot for big sixes and even scooped over fine-leg. Yuvraj Singh,returning after skipping the first game,joined in too,and the resulting stand was bigger than the earlier effort in the match,and certainly faster. The 151 runs that the two added came in 13 overs at a stunning 11.6 runs an over,taking the side to the mammoth total.

Early setback

The Reds chase got off to a disappointing start,with Robin Uthhappa out cheaply for 9. Thanks to the 134-run partnership between Abhinav Mukund and Smit Patel,which took the score to150 in the 28th over,they were still in the hunt. Abhinav Mukunds 83 contained nine boundaries and one and was cut short when he was taken in the deep off Iresh Saxena. Smit Patel was the slower of the two,scoring at a strike rate of 80,and when he retired with cramps on 67,it brought to the crease the skipper,Yusuf Pathan.

The expectations barely settled down before Pathan left,only two balls into his innings. The blow did not seem to hurt the Reds badly,with Kedar Jadhav and Ishank Jaggi putting up 47 in five overs of the powerplay. Their partnership of 68 ended with Jadhav getting out stumped to Piyush Chawla on 49. Two balls later,Jaggi 34 too was out,bowled by a Chawla googly. From there the chase wilted,with Vinay Kumar picking up wickets in the mele and ending with four.

Brief Scores: India Red 345/4 in 50 overs Akshath Reddy 84,Yuvraj Singh 84; Umesh Yadav 1/64 bt India Red Abhinav Mukund 83,Smit Patel 68; Vinay Kumar 4/76,Piyush Chawla 2/55

ck in shape,Yuvraj knocks on door again

Siddhartha Sharma

Indore,September 27

Batting on 45,Yuvraj Singh tapped his bat once,squatted a little and turned to face Umesh Yadav. Umesh bowled a pacey full toss; it traveled almost twice as fast off Yuvrajs bat and smacked into the second tier of the Vijay Hazare stand behind the midwicket boundary. Having passed 50,Yuvraj raised his bat once to acknowledge the crowd.

Yuvraj had sat out India Blues first match,against Delhi,with back spasms. Now,against India Red,he was back,and with the national selectors present in Indore,Yuvraj knew that runs would add momentum to his comeback bid. And he made runs alright. His 53-ball 84 6215;4,5215;6 rocketed Blues score to 345/4.

Yuvrajs wait to get on the field ended in the 34th over when Manish Pandey was dismissed for 70. With India Blue placed comfortably at 176/2 in 33 overs,Yuvraj played his first 10 balls cautiously,pushing it around for singles and twos. On two occasions,he missed cover drives off Suraj Yadav,with his body responding slower than his mind. Yuvraj immediately shadow-practiced the stroke.

He went easy in the power play,and was on 12 off 16 balls when the field restrictions ended. Then India Red skipper Yusuf Pathan brought on part-time offie Gurkeerat Mann. His first two balls hit Yuvrajs pad as he looked to defend. Yuvrah was playing for turn; there was none,and Mann appealed unsuccessfully on both occasions. The next delivery was dispatched over the cover fielder for four. With no fine leg fielder in place,Yuvraj moved towards the off side to guide Manns next ball for another boundary.

In the next over,Yusuf brought on Suraj Yadav. Yuvraj charged him and played a powerful cover drive for four. He repeated the stroke,with the same result,in Surajs next over as well. In response,Suraj dug one short and was duly pulled for six.

Once again Yusuf brought on Mann to take the pace off the ball. He gave away only three off the first five balls of his over. Before Mann delivered the last ball,Yuvraj planted his foot forward. Mann dropped it short; Yuvraj rocked back and sent the ball in the JN Bhaya stand.

Against the fast bowlers,Yuvrajs initial movement is usually back-and-across. Here,after he reached 50,he began planting it forward rather than sideways,giving the bowlers the hint that he was looking to step out of his crease. They invariably dropped short,and Yuvraj punished them each time. Abhimanyu Mithun was slightly more comfortable against Yuvrajs strategy,and kept bowling full. But when Yuvraj is in full flow,good balls starts looking ordinary. In the 45th over,Yuvraj sliced a full Mithun delivery over point for four. Later,he smashed him over deep square leg for six,a stroke reminiscent of a six he hit off Brett Lee during the 2007 World T20.

Yuvraj scored 22 off the 13 balls he faced from Mithun,and milked 17 off 15 off Umesh. Eventually,he was run out after a mix-up with Abhishek Nayar,but even though there was no asterix against it,84 represented a good days work.