Yuvraj Singh and Motera Stadium share fond memories

It was like a homecoming for Yuvraj Singh at the Motera Stadium and he made sure he reciprocated the warmth of the thousands of fans in the stands. But by the time he left, temperatures had soared and the Pakistani bowlers were sweating.

Yuvraj blasted his way to an explosive 72 off 36 balls to lead India to a challenging total of 192 runs after being asked to bat. Yuvraj dealt in boundaries as much as he favoured taking the aerial route. His innings had four fours and seven sixes in all. Helped by skipper MS Dhoni at the other end, he pelted both the spinners as well as the pacers to put his team in control.

It comes as no surprise then that Yuvraj is the only batsmen in T20 format of the game who has scored more Sixes than Fours. He has scored 54 Sixes and 45 Fours in 33 matches.

It could have been a start of a collapse but Yuvraj ensured that Pakistan were not allowed to claw their way back. He hit Shahid Afridi for a massive six which went several rows behind the mid-wicket position. He followed it up with an equally emphatic hit against Saeed Ajmal. This despite being hit on his foot earlier by Mohammad Irfan. The south-paw holds the T20 record of having hit more sixes (54) than fours (45).

Yuvraj surely loves to bat at Motera. Only last month he played the first Test against England in Ahmedabad, which was also his first Test after his triumphant battle against cancer. He scored 74 runs to mark his Test comeback.

But one knock that defines Yuvraj's connect with Motera is his knock of 57 off 65 deliveries in the last year's World Cup quarter-final match against Australia. His knock ousted the defending champions from the tournament.

At the post-match presentation, he was given a standing ovation by the cheering crowd. "I have never experienced such a treatment. This is something special," Yuvraj Singh had the said.

If that was special, then what Ahmedabad witnessed tonight deserves a superlative.