The all-round doubles

There have been a total of five instances in the IPL where a player has scored more than 40 runs and picked up four wickets or more in the same game. Only one player has done this twice - Yuvraj Singh. However, his heroics went in vain on both occasions with his teams, Pune Warriors and Royal Challengers Bangalore, ending up on the losing side. All three other instances in which players achieved this feat came in victories. Scoring 40 runs or taking four wickets in a 120 ball innings is a feat in itself, let alone doing both in the same match. In the aftermath of the brutal assault by Steven Smith and James Faulker to nullify the Yuvraj show, here's a look at such all-round performances.

Yuvraj Singh, 83 & 4 for 35
Royal Challengers Bangalore v Rajasthan Royals, 11 May 2014

Coming into the match low on confidence after a poor start to IPL 2014, Yuvraj is likely to have been very determined to shake off that figurative albatross (his price tag of Rs 14 crore) hanging around his neck. Hitting three fours in his first eight balls, Yuvraj got off to a brisk start, something that he has been having trouble doing off late. Audiences got to see the Yuvraj of old as he blitzed his way to 83 (off 38 balls), his highest T20 score. He came to back to send down four very efficient overs of left-arm spin, picking up the important wickets of Shane Watson and the well set Karun Nair (56) in his spell of 4 for 35. However, the fickle nature of T20 cricket is such that Steven Smith and James Faulkner's belligerence at the fag end of the match, scoring an astounding 65 runs 17 balls, meant that Yuvraj Singh would finish up on the losing side. This was the only time that such a performance was not rewarded with a Man-of-the-Match award.

Kieron Pollard, 64 & 4 for 44
Mumbai Indians v Rajasthan Royals, 11 April 2012

The previous all-round gem came more than two years ago, and Rajasthan Royals were at the receiving end of that one as well. With Mumbai Indians batting first, Pollard came in to bat with the score at 68 for 3 in the ninth over. He didn't really get going until the 14th over when he hit Johan Botha for consecutive boundaries of his first four balls (4, 6, 6, 4). Post that catalytic over from Botha, there was no stopping Pollard; he muscled his way to a 33-ball 64. During the chase, Royals threatened to do what they did in yesterday's game, with Owais Shah scoring a 42-ball 76. Pollard was expensive with the ball, giving away 44 runs, but he did pick up four useful wickets. Malinga with an outstanding spell of 4-0-13-2, including crucial wickets of Shah and Botha, ensured that Pollard's efforts did not end up being futile.

Ravindra Jadeja, 48 & 5 for 16
Chennai Super Kings v Deccan Chargers, 7 April 2012

This is only performance on this list which includes a sub-50 score and also the only one to comprise a five-wicket haul. The lead up to this performance by Ravindra Jadeja is uncannily similar to the latest Yuvraj Singh display. Jadeja was coming into IPL 2012 on the back of some poor performances - a poor CB series in Australia (bowling avg: 109.00, and batting avg: 16.83) followed by an indifferent Asia Cup. He was also the year's most expensive IPL signing, meaning that there was significant pressure on him to perform. After a horrendous first outing for Super Kings, where he scored a five-ball 3 and bowled a single over for 16 runs, his star turn in the second match against Chargers was much needed. Jadeja was the top-scorer, pummeling the Chargers bowlers, en route to CSK setting up a mammoth 193. Chargers got off to a reasonable start, reaching 71 for 2 in 10 overs, before Jadeja stepped in to ensure that the innings did not flourish for long. It was a facile win in the end for Super Kings, by 74 runs, their second biggest of that season.

Yuvraj Singh, 66* & 4 for 29
Pune Warriors v Delhi Daredevils, 17 April 2011

One has to be very unfortunate to lose despite putting on an all-round show such as those being discussed in this piece. You can only feel sorry for a man who has had to suffer that fate twice - this was the first of those two instances for Yuvraj Singh. Warriors started their innings well, reaching 82 for 1 in 8.2 overs before the loss of Mithun Manhas brought Yuvraj to the crease. Yuvraj played with his usual flair and flamboyance, including plundering Ashok Dinda for 26 runs off the last over of the innings. David Warner and Virender Sehwag hit the ground running for Delhi Daredevils, scoring at almost 12 runs per over in the Powerplay. However, Warriors pulled it back and Yuvraj helped by taking back-to-back wickets in the 13th over to dismiss Naman Ojha and Irfan Pathan. Like Royal Challengers yesterday, Warriors looked for set for victory with Daredevils needing 41 runs to win of the last three overs. However, a 20-run 18th over by the inexperienced Shrikant Wagh sent them hurtling towards defeat. Despite this, Yuvraj Singh was deservedly declared the Man of the Match.

Paul Valthaty, 4 for 29 & 75
Kings XI Punjab v Deccan Chargers, 16 April 2011

Apart from this being the first instance of the occurrence of such a rare all-round double, there are a couple of other unique aspects about this performance - one, this is only time that an uncapped player has performed this double; and two, this is the only double where the batting performance has come in a chase. Paul Valthaty had already arrived as an IPL player having scored a century against Super Kings in the previous game that season. Despite a strong start by Deccan Chargers, reaching 88 for 1, Valthaty's split-finger slower balls restricted them to 165 for 8 in 20 overs. It looked like Valthaty didn't believe that cricket was a team game when he came out and scored the bulk of the runs himself (75) and took the team to 151 before being dismissed in the 16th over, by which time the match was all but done and dusted.