Yuvraj dazzles with the bat and seals it with the ball (October 1999)

When a strong Delhi side took on Punjab in the Dhruv Pandove Stadium at Patiala in the league phase of the Cooch Behar Trophy it was always unlikely that the match would end with a result.

Both teams had strong batting sides and it would take an exceptional bowling performance or a genuinely bad one with the bat to force a result. In terms of bowling, Delhi held the slight edge. AK Suman and Rakesh Jha were in prime form and would be a difficult proposition on any wicket.

When one of the most successful young batsmen for Punjab, Ravneet Ricky was dismissed for a duck, things looked difficult. Ricky had consistently given Punjab good starts. His early dismissal did not help the Punjab cause in any way. Ironically, it might have been a blessing in disguise.

The fall of Ricky's wicket with just 1 run on the board brought Yuvraj Singh to the crease. Yuvraj Singh changed the pace of the game with a brisk innings that was not matched by anyone in the course of the game. Coming together with another youngster who has been making waves in the recent past - Manish Sharma. The two forged a partnership that put Punjab in the driving seat.

Manish was solid at one end and this let Yuvraj deal with the bowlers severely. Slamming his way to 95 off just 111 balls, Yuvraj shared a 173 run partnership with Manish before he was dismissed by Puru Singh. The innings was peppereed with a generous 16 boundaries. Thanks to this solid stand high up in the order and some good fire fighting by SP Singh later in the order Punjab were able to post a score of 369.

After posting a solid score like that Punjab were able to put the squeeze on Delhi and knock them out for 277. Here again Yuvraj played an invaluable hand, bowling long spells of left arm spin. In characteristically economical fashion Yuvraj conceded just 39 runs from his 31 overs.

The match ended in a draw, but Punjab had stamped its authority on the game by that stage.