5 Performances Of Yuvraj Singh That Changed Indian Cricket Forever

Inaugural ICC World T20 in 2007

Yuvraj celebrating a World Cup victory for India - albeit in a new format - in his own style.

Before the beginning of the inaugural World T20, India were not enjoying a particularly great run in limited overs cricket. Having played only one T20 international before this tournament - the lowest for any participating team - India had won only one limited overs tournament outside India for over a year. Their performance at the 50-over World Cup less than six months before this tournament was their worst in 15 years.

Many of the senior players opted out of the tournament to give a chance to the youngsters. In terms of the number of matches played, Yuvraj was India's most experienced player going into the tournament. Neither Yuvraj nor the team got off to a great start, with India having to face a no-result, a tie (won by India in the bowl out) and a loss in their first three matches.

India had made it to the super eights though as Scotland could not win any match and lost out to India on net run rate in the first round. In their second super-eights match against England (India had lost their first super-eight match to New Zealand), all India could hope for was a victory against another side that was struggling. India got off to a flyer with Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag both scoring fifties.

From 136 for zero, India lost three wickets for 19 runs and it was up to Yuvraj Singh and newly appointed captain MS Dhoni to guide India to a winning score and a decent net run rate.

A verbal tussle with Andrew Flintoff after the end of the 18th over got Yuvraj going. A young Stuart Broad, who was bowling the 19th over, was greeted with a huge six on the first ball of the over.

Broad - who is among England's most successful fast bowlers - tried all lines and lengths - though he bowled mostly full throughout the over. Yuvraj did not hold back one bit and hit six sixes off that over. This was only the second such instance in international cricket and a first in T20 internationals.

Yuvraj's fifty came off just 12 balls, and it is still the fastest fifty in all of international cricket. He finished with 58 off 16 balls and missed the crucial match against South Africa, but the team did well and made it to the semifinal against Australia.

In the semifinal, India were struggling at 41 for 2 after 8 overs. To make things worse, Australia were playing the exact same squad that won them the World Cup a few months ago - which consisted of ace bowlers such as Brett Lee, Mitchell Johnson, Nathan Bracken and Stuart Clark. But Yuvraj made full use of his form and attacked all of them.

In just 29 balls, Yuvraj scored 70 runs, yet again against a great bowling attack. His ferocious strokeplay, even against the likes of Brett Lee, inspired Robin Uthappa as well as MS Dhoni to score runs quickly. During the 56 balls while Yuvraj was at the crease, the team scored 114 runs and he got out with 15 balls to spare.

Matthew Hayden and Andrew Symonds did their best, but tight bowling from India during Australia's final overs helped India secure a 15-run victory and a place in the final of a tournament that was not being seriously looked at by many admirers of Indian cricket.

All of a sudden - India and Pakistan - the two surprise first round exiting teams of the 50-over World Cup that year, were playing in a World Cup final.

In the final, Yuvraj struggled as did most of the Indian batsmen. He was, however, part of a 63 runs partnership off just 46 balls with Gautam Gambhir - which was instrumental in getting India to a decent score.

India managed to hold their nerve in a nail-biting victory and the whole nation cheered as the disappointment of the 50-over World Cup had been wiped out.

Yuvraj was India's third highest run scorer in the tournament and possessed one of the best strike rates and sixes tally. But most importantly, his two innings in two of the most important matches were instrumental in India winning a cricket World Cup after 24 years.

How it changed Indian cricket:

Yuvraj's performance and India's victory in the inaugural World T20 drastically changed things. The Indian Premier League (IPL) was inaugurated just six months after India's victory and it opened to resounding success for the fans and the stakeholders.

Today, the IPL - besides a huge talent-scouting tournament - is also the biggest money-making tournament for franchises, players, broadcasters and sponsors.

Because of the resounding success of the World T20 became the next big tournament in cricket, and is almost as important as the 50-over World Cup. T20 became a big thing, and Yuvraj's impact in the tournament elevated his position as one of the most attacking middle order batsmen.

BCCI made a lot of profit in the decade to follow and ICC's revenues are today highly affected by Indian cricket. Because of the team's success, MS Dhoni subsequently became the ODI and Test captain and remained India's skipper in the limited overs formats for almost a decade.

Under Dhoni, India won multiple ODI and T20 tournaments including all the ICC trophies, and reached the number one ranking in Tests and won their first Test series in New Zealand after 40 years.

Yuvraj played an integral part in most of these victories and was India's vice-captain for a large part of this period. Most importantly, India regained their lost confidence and once again became a feared side in World cricket.