Yuvraj Singh reckons India comeback has allowed him to bat more freely

The Sunrisers Hyderabad began their title defense in grand fashion, with Yuvraj Singh powering his team to a big total in the curtain-raiser of the IPL. Crowds at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium witnessed an essence of vintage Yuvraj.

He creamed balls through the off-side and disdainfully lofted others over the leg-side boundary. In what turned what out be a match-winning performance, Yuvi smashed a 27-ball 62, thus bringing up his fastest 50 in his IPL career.

“We started from where we ended,” he told IPLT20.com. “It was a great performance from all the batsmen throughout the innings. The bowlers then came and did the job for the team. It was an important win for us and we need to take more points at home. If we can get five out of seven wins at home, it will help us to qualify in the last four,” Yuvraj added.

Put into bat by the Royal Challengers Bangalore, the defending champs got off to a steady start with Warner and Dhawan. Once the openers were sent back to the dugout, it was an exhibition of clean hitting from Yuvraj and Moises Henriques. He clumped three masterly sixes and seven boundaries in his blistering knock. On the night of the IPL opener, Yuvraj Singh was out there, reliving his form of the heydays.

“When I walked out to bat, I just told (Moises) Henriques that I am going to take a few balls and then go for my shots. But, the first two balls hit the middle of my bat and I told him that I was feeling good and I am going to take my chances,” Yuvi said.

The big all-rounder recently made a comeback to the Indian team and brought back memories of his illustrious past in an ODI against England. Alongside MS Dhoni, Yuvi went on to score a brilliant 150, a knock that will go down as one of the finest in his career. He made batting look easy, sending the ball to all parts of the ground. In Hyderabad last night, Yuvraj’s avatar reflected that glorious magic of a man in form.

“I enjoyed my batting tonight. My batting has been up and down over a couple of years, but I am feeling really good at the moment. I just need to continue this good run forward. The comeback into the Indian team has really helped me. I am freer in my mind and I am not worrying anymore about making a comeback. I am just going to play according to the situation and express myself,” Yuvraj added.

Yuvraj Singh was up against T20 specialist Tymal Mills, who has been sensational with his variations in the shortest format of the game. However, Mills was taken to the cleaners as Yuvraj struck the ball effortlessly over the mid-wicket boundary. Although his innings looked fluent, Yuvi shared that it’s all his hard work that’s eventually paid off on the big night.

“I have been hitting a lot of balls and practicing a lot. I have been spending more hours in the nets batting. Also, Hyderabad has always been a lucky place for me. When I played for the India U19s, I scored a lot of runs here. I made a comeback when I scored a lot of runs in Hyderabad. I have good memories of this ground and with the kind of preparations leading up to the tournament, I feel good about my batting at the moment. Hopefully, I will keep doing what I am doing right now,” he said.

Yuvraj Singh was all praises for his Sunrisers teammate Ben Cutting. The Australian removed the dangerous Kedhar Jadhav with a rocket throw from the deep. Cutting also added valuable runs to the Sunrisers total, hitting 2 sixes in an unbeaten 16.

“I don’t know about accuracy, but I feel Cutting’s throw was the fastest I have seen in a long time. I saw him bowl today, he bowled a yard quicker and with the way he is going, he should be a regular for Australia soon. He was outstanding tonight,” Yuvraj said.

The Sunrisers will now clash against last year’s table toppers Gujarat Lions on Sunday.