BACK TO WHERE HE BELONGS

BACK TO WHERE HE BELONGS

Shalini Gupta
Friday , Mar 12, 2010 at 0007 hrs
Chandigarh:

As he stepped onto the greens at the Sector 16 Stadium, it was like going down memory's lane for Yuvraj Singh. It was here that the Indian cricket star had learnt his first cricketing lessons and as he played a practice match for the Kings XI Punjab at the Stadium today, Yuvraj was his usual self.

Kings XI Punjab take on Delhi Daredevils on Saturday in the IPL and Yuvraj stays the best bet for Kings XI. And from what he showed today, injury or no injury bowlers beware: In the 39 balls that he faced, Yuvraj hit four huge sixes and five fours in his knock of 63.

It wasn't difficult, as it was here that Yuvraj had scored his first century in competitive cricket. "Against Gurdaspur in Katoch Shield in 1995," he was quick in recalling the inning, "and that made me believe in myself."

Today Yuvraj was merciless. Soon after he hit his fourth six, Yuvraj retired hurt because of stiff wrist and went straight to the team physio Patrick Farhat. "It feels amazingly good playing here. It is the same ground where I started playing cricket. I remember being dragged to the nets by my father (Yograj Singh) and made to hit the ball for hours."