Will Yuvraj be third time lucky?

The first time he played at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium  in Hyderabad, in what also happened to be the first match at the venue in November 2005, he scored a composed 103 off 122 balls against South Africa. The innings was laced with 10 boundaries and three sixes.

Two years later, in 2007, he ensured an encore. This time it was against Australia. His 121 off 115 balls (inclusive of 12 boundaries and three sixes) was more spectacular than the earlier knock.

And now, as another two years have passed, and the ground is getting ready to host its third one-day international, Yuvraj Singh is raring to complete his own hat-trick of hundreds.

If his match-winning 78 against the Australians at the Ferozshah Kotla is an indicator, the left-hander is certainly in the right frame of mind, coming after an injury lay-off. And the Australians, having been at the receiving end on the last occasion, are treading cautiously.

"Yuvraj has the ability to play the ball well on both slow and fast wickets. He has good strokes for either," observed coach Tim Nielsen, while trying to explain what makes the southpaw so dangerous on such tracks.

"He has a good pair of hands, good timing and is overall a great player. His partnership with M S Dhoni the other day was brilliant."

However, Yuvraj's love affair with the ground at Uppal has a tragic twist to it.

Even though both his hundreds have been without doubt splendid efforts, they wern't enough to ensure India victory in both the matches.

While India lost the match against South Africa by five wickets, against the Australians they fell 47 runs short.

The only other ground where Yuvraj has two one-day hundreds, the R Prema Dasa Stadium in Colombo, the results have been in India's favour in both the cases.

The main reason behind the defeats was the fact that on both the occasions Yuvraj waged a lone battle sans any sizeable support.

And Dhoni, who was captaining the team on the second of those occasions, seemed to have done his homework on this particular aspect.

"I am expecting big runs from him (Yuvraj), but, at the same time, I am also expecting others to contribute in a big way," said Dhoni.

While India is tad desperate for a maiden win at the venue, which will enable the team wrest the initiative back from the visitors after the Mohali debacle, a Yuvraj century alongside will be akin to an icing on the cake.

However, between scoring a hundred and an Indian win, Yuvraj, will without doubt, be satisfied more with the latter. Will he be lucky this time around?

Photograph: Reuters