After a long period of time, finally, the miracle happened at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack on January 19. The inning which the entire cricket fans were waiting for was exhibited during the 2nd ODI between India and England and the magicians were MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh.
The former captain and ex vice-captain of team India were at the crease when the squad was reduced to 25/3. Though Yuvi carried his glance and started making his benchmark shots from the very beginning but Dhoni started it with a turtle’s speed. While Yuvi maintained the run rate, Dhoni supported him from the other end by calmly taking the opportunities and showed no hurry.
But, as few overs passed both had shifted their performance to the top gear.
After 6 years of long wait and a very hard struggle, the left-handed hard hitter from team India, Yuvraj Singh has finally smashed a massive century. With this century, Yuvi not only scored the 14th ton of his career but also surpassed ‘Master Blaster’ Sachin Tendulkar in terms of scoring most runs in ODIs against England.
Sachin had scored 1455 runs in ODI against England, which was the highest by any Indian in ODIs, but in today’s match, Yuvi left Tendulkar behind after scoring a total of 1478 runs in 35 innings against England. In addition, Yuvraj now also holds the record of highest individual runs scored against England in an inning – 150 runs off 125 balls.
On the other hand, Dhoni conquering the “hare and tortoise” race, smashed the English opponents into fumes and thrashed a furious 134-run innings in 122 balls. This was the moment when after 3 years, a ton came off his bat. Mahi also became the first Indian cricketer to hit 200 sixes in ODI.
There was a time when critics accused Dhoni of being impartial with Yuvraj and keeping him out of his pick. Even Yuvi’s father Yograj Singh have grilled Dhoni numerous time. But today, it was the moment when two giants showed their strengths and made a 256 runs partnership, the highest by any team against England.
Hope, this series also falls in India’s lap and such miracles keep on happening.
