Yuvraj Singh's sizzling run in Pakistan, which saw him amass a whopping tally of 344 runs in the five-match one-day international series against Pakistan, also earned him a place in the record books.
His tally is now the highest for any batsman against Pakistan in a bilateral series obliterating former West Indies captain Richie Richardson's 18-years old record.
Rahul Dravid held the previous Indian record with 308 runs in last year's home series.
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Yuvraj, however, narrowly failed to create a new Indian record for the most runs in a bilateral series against any country.
In fact, Yuvraj would have easily achieved it, but for Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who blasted 28 of the required 29 runs in India's chase in the fifth match. The power hitting ensured that Dhoni still remains on the top in the list of Indian batsmen with maximum runs in a bilateral series. The Indian wicketkeeper had aggregated 346 runs in the seven-match series against Sri Lanka towards the end of 2005.
A look at the detailed statistics:
Most runs in a bilateral series against Pakistan:
Batsman | For | Season | Mts | Runs | Avg | 100s | 50s | SR |
Yuvraj Singh | Ind | 2005-06 | 5 | 344 | 172.00 | 1 | 2 | 97.17 |
R Richardson | WI | 1987-88 | 5 | 321 | 80.25 | 0 | 4 | 80.86 |
R Dravid | Ind | 2004-05 | 6 | 308 | 51.33 | 1 | 2 | 80.00 |
AH Jones | NZ | 1988-89 | 4 | 274 | 137.00 | 0 | 4 | 64.32 |
N Knight | Eng | 1996 | 3 | 264 | 132.00 | 2 | 0 | 84.89 |
MS Dhoni | Ind | 2004-05 | 6 | 261 | 43.50 | 1 | 0 | 95.96 |
V Richards | WI | 1985-86 | 5 | 260 | 86.67 | 0 | 3 | 139.04 |
R Smith | Eng | 1992 | 5 | 258 | 64.50 | 0 | 3 | 81.90 |
B Dippenaar | SAf | 2003-04 | 5 | 256 | 64.00 | 1 | 2 | 67.72 |
M Atapattu | SL | 1999-00 | 3 | 253 | 126.50 | 1 | 2 | 82.14 |
Most runs in a bilateral series for India:
Batsman | Opp | Venue | Season | Mts | Runs | Avg | 100s | 50s | SR |
MS Dhoni | vs SL | Ind | 2005-06 | 7 | 346 | 115.33 | 1 | 1 | 119.31 |
Yuvraj Singh | vs Pak | Pak | 2005-06 | 5 | 344 | 172.00 | 1 | 2 | 97.17 |
VVS Laxman | vs WI | Ind | 2002-03 | 7 | 312 | 52.00 | 0 | 3 | 78.99 |
R Dravid | vs SL | Ind | 2005-06 | 6 | 312 | 156.00 | 1 | 2 | 91.23 |
R Dravid | vs NZ | NZ | 1998-99 | 5 | 309 | 77.25 | 1 | 2 | 84.66 |
R Dravid | vs Pak | Ind | 2004-05 | 6 | 308 | 51.33 | 1 | 2 | 80.00 |
S Ganguly | vs NZ | Ind | 1999-00 | 5 | 301 | 75.25 | 1 | 1 | 91.77 |
R Dravid | vs WI | Ind | 2002-03 | 7 | 300 | 75.00 | 1 | 2 | 89.82 |
Most runs in a bilateral series for India against Pakistan:
Batsman | Venue | Season | Mts | Runs | Avg | 100s | 50s | SR |
Yuvraj Singh | Pak | 2005-06 | 5 | 344 | 172.00 | 1 | 2 | 97.17 |
R Dravid | Ind | 2004-05 | 6 | 308 | 51.33 | 1 | 2 | 80.00 |
MS Dhoni | Ind | 2004-05 | 6 | 261 | 43.50 | 1 | 0 | 95.96 |
R Dravid | Pak | 2003-04 | 5 | 248 | 62.00 | 0 | 2 | 73.59 |
V Sehwag | Ind | 2004-05 | 6 | 239 | 39.83 | 1 | 1 | 113.27 |
S Tendulkar | Pak | 2005-06 | 4 | 237 | 59.25 | 1 | 1 | 90.11 |
R Shastri | Ind | 1986-87 | 6 | 223 | 74.33 | 0 | 3 | 84.79 |
S Ganguly | Canada | 1997 | 6 | 222 | 55.50 | 0 | 2 | 62.01 |
R Dravid | Canada | 1996 | 5 | 220 | 44.00 | 0 | 1 | 68.54 |
MS Dhoni | Pak | 2005-06 | 5 | 219 | 219.00 | 0 | 3 | 136.88 |
S Tendulkar | Ind | 2003-04 | 5 | 213 | 42.60 | 1 | 0 | 90.25 |
Note: In cricket, a player's batting average is the total number of runs he has scored divided by the number of times he has been out.
In Yuvraj's example, he made 344 runs in five innings, but he was out just twice. So his average is 344 divided by 2 = 172.00