Yuvraj Singh changed his mind at the last moment and tried to yank away his head but it was too late by then. Sudeep Tyagi’s short ball had crashed in to his helmet. Everyone rushed to him – the players, umpires before the Punjab physio sprinted in. Since Australian cricketer Philip Hughes’ demise month ago it’s natural that there is bit of fear in players.

Luckily, though, Yuvraj didn’t show visible signs of discomfort, and just asked for a replacement helmet. This has been his best domestic season ever as a batsman. In 2004, he had hit two hundreds in a season, his previous best, but now, he has three in three already. On Monday, at the stadium at Khanderi in Saurashtra, Yuvraj extended his overnight score of 95 to an imperious 182. These efforts have come after he was left out of the 2015 World Cup probables and was also dropped from the list of contracted players for 2014-15.

It wasn’t a solo effort from Yuvraj on Monday. The young middle-order batsman Mandeep Singh notched up 235, his career-best score. The pair added 379 runs for the fourth wicket to help ensure Saurashtra spent almost the entire second day on field and also helped Punjab declare after piling up 659 for 7. Saurashtra had reached 27 without loss and have a mammoth task ahead of them if they are to take a first-innings lead here.

It took a mere four deliveries in the morning for Yuvraj to get to his ton, a landmark he celebrated with a pulled four off Siddharth Trivedi. In Trivedi’s next over he slammed two successive fours – a low full toss that was driven through extra cover and cut to backward point boundary. Mandeep gave him good support, continuously rotating the strike. A busy batsman, he went after anything short.

Chirag Jani kept hurling across bouncers which for the most part sailed harmlessly way over the head. When it was within his reach, Mandeep hooked and cut. A hooked six to fine-leg was a highlight. And if it were not for a mix-up that led to a run out, he probably would have got a lot more than the 235 he made.Mandeep had pushed towards long-on and set off. But there wasn’t much power behind the shot and the short midwicket fielder had hauled it in with a dive.

Sent back by Yuvraj, he even threw in a dive but couldn’t make it back in time. Yuvraj soon departed, nicking behind off Arpit Vasavada. However, Saurashtra couldn’t breathe easy as Gurkeerat Singh Mann went on to slam an unbeaten 101.

BRIEF SCORES: Punjab: 659 for 7 dcld in 168 ovs (Mandeep 235, Yuvraj 182, Gurkeerat 101; S Tyagi 2/87) vs Saurashtra 27 for no loss in 10 ovs