What might have possibly passed through Yuvraj Singh’s mind-space when he jogged into his delivery stride, only he can detail. Maybe even he can’t, for in moments of such gripping emotion, even the subject himself can’t exactly recapture the feel. For the rest of us, it’s a matter of conjecture, a remote assumption of what could have, for most of us haven’t endured what Yuvraj Singh has. It might be something the poets widely, and vaguely, imagine as the “unbearable lightness of being”. It might be as intangible as inescapable, the gravity and degree of which we laymen can’t experience unless we are in Yuvraj Singh’s shoes.
The first ball on his return to international cricket was as un-Yuvi like as it could get. The ball was flighted more than usual and Kane Williamson gently drove to extra cover. Yuvraj almost evicted McCullum with his third ball — the skidder just escaped the bat’s edge.
The second over had more of the chutzpah you associate with Yuvraj. Pummeled for a six, he nearly accounted for McCullum in the same over. He stuck his left-hand out to a pile-driver by McCullum.
Most bowlers would have withdrawn their palm, for the mightily-struck ball could have damaged their palm. But not Yuvraj. The ball simply refused to stick in, but Yuvraj did save a boundary. However, he soon rushed to the dressing room for treatment. He returned to deafening applause, but wasn’t to bowl again. Then they waited restlessly for him to bat, and the moment arrived as late as the 1th over, at the fall of Suresh Raina. The applause reached a splitting crescendo when he marked his guard and grooved into facing Kyle Mills.
Three watchful balls later, he steered Adam Milne for a couple past point. Followed an edgy boundary before he punched him through cover. The shot had Yuvraj written all over him — the panache, the nonchalance and the bat flourish. He was dropped the next ball, attempting to pull.
Soon after, he lofted Daniel Vettori over long on, a vintage Yuvraj shot, which exemplified his touch and his preparedness for the toils of international cricket.
He was back in his elements — the balance and poise intact.
Most cricketers cherish their debut, their first hundred or a maiden five-for. But Yuvraj, with the World Cup player of the tournament plaque and 10,000-plus international runs, would cherish this meagre knock of 34 the most.