A chronicle of extraordinary comeback

When was the last time a 35-year old batsman, in the twilight of his career, returns to ODI cricket after three years and produces the most dazzling innings of his career - 150 in 127 balls. It was a script only the cricketing Gods could have written. And Yuvraj Singh played the role to perfection.

The knock had all the colours of rainbow and yet it had the soul of a ferocious tropical storm. And if that was not enough, Cuttack, a small town in the coastal state of Odisha, having borne the brunt of several storms in the past, witnessed the landfall of the second storm named M.S. Dhoni soon after. The aftermath was a torrential flow of runs that left England devastated.

It would take a while for the visiting team to pick up the pieces and move on. It might take some serious rehabilitation effort to restore the confidence of this fabulously talented England team that almost chased down the mammoth target of 382 runs.

The pressure of a failed innings, in the Pune ODI, was threatening to sabotage perhaps his final comeback to international cricket. Being Yuvraj, on and off the cricket field, had never been easy. But all the turbulence, including cancer, in his life has only gone to fortify his determination to excel. At the Barabati Stadium, he enthralled the spectators with his spectacular batting skills.

Yuvraj walked in when India were struggling at 22 for two, with Virat Kohli cheaply dismissed on the last ball of the third over. Four balls later India were to suffer another setback with opener Shikhar Dhawan dragging the ball into his wickets. But Dhawan's dismissal brought in Dhoni, the former captain, with whom Yuvraj had scripted several sensational partnerships. Now the stars were perfectly aligned, what transpired thereafter was a magnificent exhibition of stroke play.

The past experience of bailing India out of the danger zone must have started flowing through the veins of the two stalwarts. They knew precisely what had to be done.

First, the pitch had to be read, which didn't look ominous. In fact, it was a flat batting track with lush green outfield - in short, full of runs. The duo had to absorb Woakes's incisive spell and let it pass like an aberration. The ground work was done with singles and twos, carefully placed into the gaps.

Yuvraj laid bare his intent in the eighth over, when he swooped on to the inexperienced medium-pacer Jake Ball and creamed him for three boundaries - first an uppish flick off the hips, followed by an imperious pull and then a skillful wristy flick.

The rich vein of form was threatening to return. A gorgeous drive to the mid-off boundary in the 11th over dissipated all doubts - something special was brewing.

Dhoni, on the other hand, began on a cautious note. An exceptionally good reader of a match situation, he knew first the bowling attack had to be bled through with singles. It would also rotate the strike and give Yuvraj more opportunities to face the ball.

England skipper Eoin Morgan brought in Stokes to effect a breakthrough as India were gathering momentum. In the 17th over, Yuvraj played a shot only he could have. Stokes had erred in length, pitched it up and Yuvraj wasn't missing any opportunity. Gifted with a high backlift and lightening bat speed, his bat came down swiftly and met the ball just under his eyes, hurried for speed he had checked his straight drive to meet the rushing ball and yet it raced to the long off boundary.  There was a moment of silence on the ground, it was a silence of awe and admiration.

A few overs later, he played a delicate cut to the thirdman for a single to reach his half-century - a feeling of relief must have flown through his veins.

The English fast bowlers had been blunted, it was time for Morgan to try out a spinner. Moeen Ali was brought in but Dhoni had other ideas. He stepped out and smacked Ali for a boundary to long-off.  A little later, Dhoni would again step out against him to send the ball soaring over the mid-wicket boundary for a six.

Meanwhile, Yuvraj had shifted gears. His bat was now flowing like a raging river. Stokes and Plunkett bowled with all their might but Yuvraj smoked them for straight sixes. The wagon wheel made for a pretty picture for runs were coming in all directions.

Dhoni was riding his luck, a mishit landed away from the outstretched hands of Jake Ball and crossed the long-on boundary and then an edge flew past the wicket-keeper, Jos Buttler, for another boundary, the streaky shot got Dhoni to his half-century.

The blitzkrieg had begun and fielders were running ragged. The two batsmen, who were scripting yet another splendid partnership of their career, assigned them only one role - to fetch the ball from the boundary.

Finally, a gentle nudge off the hips to square leg took Yuvraj to his 14th century, a landmark he hadn't reach in the last six years. Amidst uproarious crowds of Cuttack, Yuvraj, a little startled at his own achievement, raised the bat towards the heaven in acknowledgement. With misty eyes he then raised his bat towards the pavilion, where the delighted captain, Kohli, and his boys gave him a standing ovation.

But Yuvraj wasn't satisfied with just another century, he had to translate it into something memorable. What followed was mayhem. He took the English bowling attack to the cleaners with imperious lofted shots, drives and square cuts.

In the 42nd over, he took a single with a straight drive to long-off to reach the biggest milestone of his career - 150 runs. It took him 17 years to reach there.

Soon after, Wokes broke the extraordinary 256-run partnership for the fourth wicket when Yuvraj edged the ball to the wicket-keeper but not before his partner Dhoni had also scored a ton.

Yuvraj, who had carved his niche in the 50-over format as one of the greatest batsmen of all time, had fallen off the map after a sparkling performance in the 2011 World Cup.

Later, a malignant germ-cell tumor between his lungs had threatened to end his career in 2014 but the Sikh warrior in him waged a stupendous fight back to a complete recovery.

And then began the long and arduous struggle to regain his place in the team. The knock at the Barabati Stadium will not only resurrect his career but also remain etched in the collective memory of those who watched it. Forever.