Virat Kohli and Yuvraj Singh: Comparing two T20 World Cup masterclasses

Let's get this out of the way first. As spectacular and breathtaking an assault as it was, that Yuvraj Singh knock of 58 off 16 balls against England was not the finest T20I knock that an Indian has ever played.

That honour would have to go to one of two Aussie assaults that left those watching gasping for breath, while in truth, it looked like the men delivering those assaults could just go on and on.

Imagine scoring six sixes in the same over to keep your country alive in its World Cup of Redemption, but somehow go on to better that knock within three days time. Well, Yuvraj did that in mid-September 2007.

A stunning Kingsmead assault that left the Australians dazed and with a mountain to climb in their chase. But how does that compare to a man who left the Aussies dazed while he almost single-handedly climbed a mountain a chase?

Virat Kohli's 82* in Mohali has had many term it the greatest innings the Indian skipper has played in international cricket, with the man himself almost fully drained emotionally after that knock. He managed to trump everyone on that Mohali night, but did he trump Yuvraj's Durban demolition job?

We'll try here to deconstruct two of the greatest displays of batsmanship in India blue.

Circumstances? Similar. Yuvraj was playing in a World Cup semi-final. Kohli was playing in a virtual quarter-final of a home World Cup, which began disastrously, as India were bowled out for 79 in the tournament opener in Nagpur.

The match situation? Yuvraj walked in with India 41-2 after eight overs, while batting first. Kohli, with India chasing 161, walked in at 23-1 after four overs.

One thing was clear from then - if India had to win, they needed big contributions from their batting lynchpins. But that's where the similarities end.

Yuvraj Singh destroyed Australia in the semifinal of the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni ran five twos in their 31-ball partnership

Let's go back to Durban. From the off, Yuvraj's feet were on the accelerator, and they were heading straight for Australian throats. The second ball of the innings, a typical short of a length stump-to-stump ball from Stuart Clark. Yuvraj went back, swivelled on it, and smashed a pullback way back into the Kingsmead stands.

Brett Lee came, Yuvraj picked one up off his pads and deposited it near the last few rows behind the square-leg boundary. Andrew Symonds came, he was put on the Kingsmead roof.

Clark came back, crash, bang, wallop! Within the blink of an eye, Yuvraj was sitting on 51 off 20 balls and had completely turned the momentum around. Robin Uthappa fed off that momentum, giving his audacious walk and bang to even the pace of Mitchell Johnson.

41-2 off eight overs had suddenly become 125-3 in 14.3 overs, and India were now looking at 170, maybe even 180, who knew?

Yuvraj would go on to score another 19 runs off his next eight balls before he miscued Michael Clarke while trying to put another ball over the leg-side boundary. India 155-4, with 15 balls to go.

He took the run rate from five an over to a potentially match-winning nine an over in the space of 57 balls. He faced 30 of those and scored 70.

Impact. Destruction. Match-winning. Or just simply, Yuvraj.

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Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni finished off the chase

While Yuvraj was a weapon of mass destruction that India had just unleashed on Kingsmead, they chose a different method to beat Australia in the same tournament nine years later.

Crash, bang, wallop was replaced by drive, scythe, run!

Where Yuvraj was the weapon of mass destruction at Kingsmead, closer to home in Mohali, he was relegated to a support role as he watched his good mate Virat Kohli drink up another chase almost as routinely as breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Yuvraj scored 21 off 18 that day, with his running reduced to a non-entity by an ankle injury, but he played his role in steadying the ship before leaving the stage to Kohli to take India to Mumbai for the semi-final.

Kohli himself was warming up, at best, at that point. He started off with two delectable boundaries off Josh Hazlewood, but then as both Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina were sent packing by Shane Watson, Kohli knew he needed to bide his time.

Where Yuvraj had 51 runs off his first 20 balls at Kingsmead, Kohli had 20 runs off his first 20 balls here. He chose to nudge a single here, manipulate a double there, but you knew that he was building up to the crescendo. If his execution didn't fail him, he was going to go ballistic and take India home.

It was a chase, his calculation and planning don't fail in a chase. And as it turned out, the execution was spot on. The crescendo was built, with MS Dhoni at the other end.

67 needed to win off 36 when they came together. They needed only 31 of those to polish it off. Well, it was Kohli. His captain a mere cheerleader and able ally. The heavy lifting was left to one man.

They ran like their lives depended on it as Australia did to many a side on the big outfields of the Gabba or the MCG. They ran five twos in their partnership, but that was not going to be enough.

India still needed 39 off the last three, and then Kohli unleashed himself on Australia. When Yuvraj unleashed himself, he chose to pull and whip and smear over the leg side, but Kohli was different.

Where Yuvraj had a bludgeon for willow in hands, Kohli decided that his willow would play the role of a surgeon's knife.

A game I can never forget. Special night. This man, made me run like in a fitness test 😄 @msdhoni 🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/pzkr5zn4pG

— Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) September 12, 2019

18th over, James Faulkner. Front foot pull, four. Wide yorker, somehow met with a straight bat for a square drive, no chance, four. Next ball, thrilling! He was beaten as he advanced down the wicket to meet a slower ball. Somehow, he adjusted, somehow he put it over long-off. The damage was done, let's run now, so Dhoni cajoled him, Kohli responded, they ran twos.

19th over, Nathan Coulter-Nile. An exhibition in how you can make opposition hearts sink with not as much a scratch delivered on the cricket ball.

Wide yorker, square drive. Four. Short leg-side filth, pull. Four. Wide, half-volley, lofted cover drive. Four. Wide, half-volley, cover drive to burn the carpet. Four. Exhibition batting.

When Dhoni finished the game by biffing Faulkner over long-on, Kohli was on his knees, he had pulled it off. As emotional as he had ever been on a cricket field.

Yuvraj, in 2007, as emotional as he had been on a cricket field until that point too when he caught Michael Hussey at deep mid-wicket to effectively finish the game off, and let go with an expletive-laden release of emotions.

It was the same end, Australia had been vanquished. The means to the end, however, as different as they could be, their own way. One would dare say Yuvraj couldn't do a Kohli, and Kohli couldn't do a Yuvraj.

The Durban Demolition, The Mohali Moxie - two of India's great T20I knocks, delivered by two of its great white-ball match-winners.

Which was better? Oh well, how do you judge two entities so different in their conception? We'll just leave it at the fact that both knocks ended with India winning.