10 special innings by Yuvraj Singh in ODIs and T20Is

10. 84 vs Australia (ICC Knockout Trophy, Nairobi, 2000)

Yuvraj Singh vs Australia against Nairobi

India came into the tournament with the spectre of match-fixing looming large over them. They handed debuts to two new faces – youngsters who would go on to become vital cogs of the side within the next decade.

18-year-old Yuvraj Singh stood tall among the rest, treating the Australian bowlers with scant respect as he played some breathtaking strokes all over the wicket.

Showing no sign of nervousness in his first international innings, the left-hander took cue from Sachin Tendulkar’s early blitz on Glenn McGrath, and played a very composed innings, running hard between the wickets and displaying fluency when scoring boundaries.

He was fortunate enough to survive an edge off McGrath that flew past Mark Waugh when the batsman was on 45. Older middle-order stalwart Robin Singh guided the youngster briefly, and his 84 took India to 265.

His spirited effort even inspired Venkatesh Prasad to hit a six off the last delivery!

Yuvraj was electrifying in the field as he held a snorter off Prasad’s bowling to dismiss Ian Harvey before running out the dangerous Michael Bevan.

His efforts in the field galvanized the squad, and Australia eventually crumbled, losing by 20 runs and getting eliminated from the tournament.