After sitting out of Tests, Yuvraj warms up to make a point

On Friday though, he put on a 154-minute show for his team mates and a handful of spectators resting under the Sathi Cooraswamy stand, hammering 172 off just 121 deliveries as India warmed up for the one-day series with an authoritative victory over the Sri Lankan Invitational XI.

The Indian vice-captain, walking in at his favourite number four slot, hammered 13 sixes and eight boundaries, showing a distinct bias towards the long-on and mid-wicket boundaries. And at the end of the game, he stood tall and proud, despite the sore back that kept him off the field for most of the second half of the game.

“There’s always the motivation to score runs whether I am in the team or not,” he said. Having been left out of the Test side, Yuvraj spent his time in Chandigarh, working on his weak knee, shoulder and form with the bat. And loud as the statement he made on the field was, he chose the safest sequence of words facing up to the media after that.

“Today, I just concentrated on the conditions, the wicket and the bowling attack. I am happy with my first outing, and hopefully I can continue in the same vein in the remainder of the series,” he said.

The left-hander, who walked in at 73/2, hit anything that was pitched up, or short. And once he settled in, he took to playing deliveries on the rise as well.

He hit anything that was on middle and leg when he started off, and then ferociously drove between covers and point. He blasted the fast bowlers, both left-arm and right-arm, before settling in for the spinners. And though the end result looks like mayhem, there was a method in that madness.

His first 50 came in 93 minutes off 70 balls with one boundary and...