Yuvraj Singh Rolls Back Years With Clutch 50 vs Australia In WCL 2026 Opener

Yuvraj Singh scored a fiery fifty vs Australia Champions [Source: X]Yuvraj Singh was in his vintage touch on Saturday afternoon in Sharjah, scoring a fifty against one of his favourite opponents, Australia. The southpaw led the team from the front to help them reach a formidable first innings total, while also taking fans down memory lane.India Champions kick-started their World Championship of Legends 2026 campaign against Australia Champions at the iconic Sharjah Cricket Stadium. Captain Yuvraj made sure his bowlers had enough on the board to defend and begin the season with a win.Yuvraj Singh leads India from the frontAfter being put in to bat first by Usman Khawaja-led Australia, India got off to a timid start. They lost Ambati Rayudu in the first over, followed by Stuart Binny at 4.2. Yuvraj Singh joined Naman Ojha, who looked set and immediately took off.The left-hand batter stuck to one end till the 17.3 over mark, going berserk against a fairly young Aussie bowling lineup. He stitched a 42 (30) partnership with Naman Ojha, followed by a ballistic 83 off 45 balls with Yusuf Pathan.Also Read: WCL 2026 Schedule, Teams, Squads, India Squad List, Live Streaming, Live Telecast, VenuesDuring his 44-ball knock, India's World Cup winner scored 71 runs with the help of five fours and six sixes to his name. He ended the knock with a strike rate of 161.36 to set India for a total of 196/7 in 20 overs.Yuvraj's love-affair with AustraliaIt is famously known that Australia have been one of Yuvraj Singh's favourite opponents since his playing days. Especially talking about the T20Is, Yuvraj scored 283 runs in 8 innings, averaging 56.60 at a strike rate of 161.71. Australia was the opponent he scored his most T20I runs against, also scalping 6 wickets — also the most against any opponent.In one of the previous editions of the WCL, he scored 52*(23) in India's only win over the opponent in the competition.A similar case was in the ODIs, where he scored 981 runs in 37 innings, with two hundreds and four fifties against the opponent. One of his most famous knocks came in the 2011 World Cup QF, top-scoring for India with 57(65) and picking up 2/44.With his 71(44) in Sharjah, he will try to make it 2-2 in the WCL head-to-head against Australia Champions.Also Read: How Many Times Have India Failed To Defend 351+ Total/ West Indies Chase 351 In ODIs?