10 special innings by Yuvraj Singh in ODIs and T20Is

6. 118 and 4/28 vs England (Indore, 2008)

Yuvraj Singh celebrates his century – 100 runs – during the second One Day International (ODI) match between England and India in Indore

A back strain had troubled the dashing left-hander in the previous game at Rajkot, forcing him to play with a brace; he still managed to hammer an unbeaten 138 in just 78 balls that time.

In the second match at Indore, the southpaw came in with his side in trouble at 29/3, and proceeded to play a controlled innings, settling down quickly before unfurling his shots.

He advanced the score rapidly with a flurry of pulls and drives that left England captain Kevin Pietersen bereft of ideas. With Gautam Gambhir, he raised 134 for the fourth wicket, then scored a rapid 43 with Dhoni, completing his tenth ODI hundred in the process.

He became Stuart Broad’s fourth victim of the match, but late hitting from Yusuf Pathan took India to 292.

After Flintoff and Pietersen had taken the bowlers to the cleaners during the batting powerplay, the left-arm spin of the Punjab dasher removed both batsmen, effectively derailing England’s march towards the target.

He also dismissed opener Matt Prior and Owais Shah, finishing with a four-wicket haul as India took the game by 54 runs to go 2-0 up in the series.