5 things that have happened since Yuvraj Singh last played an ODI

This prince has seen it all. Once the darling of the crowd, and an intrinsic part of the Indian cricket limited overs squad, Yuvraj Singh suddenly found himself deserted when he was left out of the ODI team after 2013. He continued to perform sporadically in T20Is, but with each passing failure, his retention in the team became more and more difficult.

An untimely injury forced him out of the T20I side last year, and Yuvraj has been putting in the hard yards ever since to make a comeback. The efforts have paid rich dividends, as he was reinstated in both the ODI and T20I squads for the England series, the first full-time assignment for Virat Kohli as a limited overs captain.

Things have changed a lot ever since Yuvraj played his last ODI for India in 2013. Here are five things that have happened to ODI cricket since Yuvraj’s last appearance:

 

#5 England’s highest total in ODI history (2016)

Studded with bits and pieces cricketers for as long as one can remember, England rarely looked like the team that could become a force to reckon with in limited-overs cricket, struggling to come to terms with the ever-changing dynamics of the 50-overs and 20-over formats. 

Things have changed in the last few years, with several enterprising cricketers springing up to completely overhaul their limited overs setup. A strong lower order has given the openers the leeway to go berserk in the initial overs, as was evident during their demolition of the Pakistani outfit in their 444 run effort in August last year, the highest ODI score ever. Riding on a majestic 171 from Alex Hales, and a whirlwind fifty from Jos Buttler, the team showed exactly why they have been able to tumble records aplenty in the last 18 months.