Mumbai: When Yuvraj Singh said he would work very hard to earn a place in the team, cricket enthusiasts do understand the 37-year-old player’s passion and love for the game. But realistically speaking, he doesn’t stand a chance as there are so many talented youngsters waiting for their turn.
The team’s management (read Captain Kohli and coach Ravi Shastri) and the selectors have almost finalised the 20 players, from amongst whom, the World Cup team will be chosen. Kohli has gone on record to say that the road-map for the World Cup is ready. And, it will be very surprising if Yuvraj’s name appears on the radar.
Eyebrows were raised when Dhoni was picked for the limited-overs game, but he may remain the only one from the 2011 World Cup squad, and will definitely not play beyond the World Cup if selected for it. Yuvraj’s father Yograj did have issues when his son did not find favour with Dhoni when he was the India captain, but even with Kohli at the helm, Yuvraj’s recall is highly unlikely.
The last few months have not been easy for Yuvraj. He went unsold in the first round of IPL auctions despite his base price being the lowest in the history of the tournament. It was only towards the latter part of the auctions that Mumbai picked him for his base price of Rs 1 crore. The cancer survivor is now more focused on YouWeCan, the charity institution he has set-up for cancer patients.
Former India fast bowler, Chetan Sharma, believes that if Yuvraj has to make comeback, he will have to perform twice as well as the other players. He said, “There is lot of competition now. His competitors are not only the youngsters in the team, but also players who are knocking the doors. After scoring 159 runs in a Test recently, Pant could not find a place (in ODI squad) even though he is a player of the limited over games.”
Yuvraj’s father, Yograj, a former cricketer himself, however remains optimistic. “My son is fit, is working very hard, and can play cricket for another three to four years,” he feels and adds, “Age does not matter. The World Cup is a big tournament and it cannot be won only with youngsters in the side. When Sourav Ganguly was India captain, he kept a balance of senior and junior players in the side and Dhoni got a ready made team from him. Similarly, Kohli should also include seniors in the side,” believing, Yuvi cannot be written off.
The younger lineup
Rishabh Pant is easily the most successful of the youngsters with the type of talent certain to do well in ODIs. Mayank Agarwal is another batsman in the ODI mould, so too KL Rahul who plays some compelling instant cricket. Shreyas Iyer is an exciting talent with a penchant for the shorter formats and Hardik Pandya is never far away when factoring in the best limited-overs cricket talent. The lineup is impressive enough for Suresh Raina not to be a regular player and then there is Dinesh Karthik who has done well with the bat in pressure situations. Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma are a deadly opening combination for ODIs. And Ambati Rayudu has made a name for himself at the top order.
