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Bangalore: Axed after his failures in India's home series against England earlier this year, Yuvraj Singh had few opportunities to catch the selectors' eye again. Even his stint for Sahara Pune Warriors in the Indian Premier League wasn't satisfying enough for the selectors to recall him to the national team.
However, the selectors gave the dashing southpaw a confidence boost by naming him skipper of the India 'A' squad. Yuvraj repaid the faith in inimitable style by scoring a fiery 89-ball 123 as India 'A' thumped a hapless West Indies 'A' by 77 runs at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium to launch the three-match one-day series on a winning note.
Besides Yuvraj, Yusuf Pathan was the other out-of-favour cricketer to grab the opportunity, slamming a 32-ball 70 to bolster his comeback bid after being dropped from the India team following the 2012 Asia Cup in Dhaka.
Put in to bat, the fourth-wicket pair of Yuvraj and Yusuf scored 125 runs in just 55 balls as India recovered from a poor start to post a commanding 312 in a match that was reduced to 42 overs-a-side after the contest was delayed by two hours owing to overnight rain.
After his blazing show with the bat, Pathan returned to claim two wickets as the visitors were bundled out for 235 in 39.1 overs. Narsingh Deonarine and Ashley Nurse scored 57 each but couldn't help matters.
Meanwhile, Karnataka seamer R Vinay Kumar, coming in as a last-minute replacement for the injured Praveen Kumar, was impressive, claiming the wickets of Nkrumah Bonner (16) and Kieran Powell (17) to reduce the visitors to 47 for 2. Right-arm medium pacer Sumit Narwal and leg-spinner Rahul Sharma also claimed two wickets each.
Besides Yuvraj and Yusuf, Mandeep Singh too came good with the bat, stabilizing the innings after the loss of openers Robin Uthappa (23) and Unmukt Chand (1). The 21-year-old batsman, who cracked a half century against New Zealand 'A' last week, scored 67 off 78 balls before being bowled by left-arm spinner Nikita Miller. His innings was studded with seven fours. He played a vital role in the middle and was involved in a 100-run stand with Yuvraj for the third wicket.
It was Yuvraj, however, who stole the limelight. He was cautious with his shot selection as he took 39 balls for his first boundary. He reached his fifty in 60 balls with one boundary and two sixes. Thereafter, he slammed as many as five fours and three sixes in just 20 balls en route his first century of the season and his 17th ton in List 'A' matches.
Brief scores
India A - 312 for 4 (Yuvraj 123, Yusuf 70*, Mandeep 67)
West Indies A - 235 (Deonarine 57, Nurse 57, Narwal 2-28)
Result India 'A' won by 77 runs
