The word "Form" represents various aspects in life. It is application for a government employee. It is a design element in the life of a software employee. But in Cricket it defines status of each single player which defines his place in the team. "He is In form" and He is out of form" literally means"He is In team" and "He is Out of team". But when it comes to team India there has always been some special considerations over the last two or three decades(long before cement became a part of Indian cricket grounds and dressing rooms). Players have been given long streak of chances for a good knock or two which caught people's attention. No need to tell the story if the knock becomes historic. But what if the player turns out to be thee one who came up with the lion share of winning performances in two world-cups across two different formats. There comes the curious case of Yuvraj Singh.
If a cricketing website like "Espn Cricinfo" can forget his glittering knock of Natwest series final which resulted in a successful chase of 325, and purely concentrating on world-cup stories(not a single sentence about world cup of 2003), it is clear that the player profile description talks more like a common man than a cricketing pundit. So what Yuvraj has been said about is, for the lead role in world cup triumphs. Talk about his glory in the past and his potential, he is qualified to be part of any list in shorter formats of the game. And that is where he was misjudged by the team management and his captain. These are some of the many reasons behind the crucifixion act carried out by people for his knock in the tournament decider which ended yesterday. It was sad for any cricket fan who had witnessed his knock but blaming the person alone can't be justified.
Someone who fights with a killer disease and come out victorious is indeed qualified for a second chance in his life in whatever stream he was on. So was Yuvi. But justifying his comeback to the team by taking into account half a dozen half-centuries and a double hundred in domestic tournaments was like allowing a person to drink scotch whisky who had tasted only beer before( now don't think about liquor and where i got this info, purely for writing purpose). That has been the case of Yuvi which the team had to paid price of loosing the chance to lift the trophy for the second time. It was not the only reason for India's loss. But it brought back the game which would have gone to few interesting levels to none. Who should be blamed.? Yuvi....Definitely not....
Putting the cards on the table one by one, which is not going to be treated as an appeal for a further chance, lets just clear the air. Considering the big moment of his life, the comeback game against New Zealand in chennai can be put first. He had put on some extra pounds when entered the arena after one year(11 September 2012). The match was well set up for the hero, by the this-is-my-attitude lad virat kohli after taking India to a level where India required 48 of last 7 overs. with more than 7 wickets in hand it was a sleep walk for the team. But the last over heroic act set up by captain himself and allowing the comeback man to score the winning runs resulted in 1 run loss. Yuvraj's score read 34 of 26 balls which is pleasing to hear but the way in which he scored came out after some uncharacteristic shots which came before only when he was not in the best of his knocks.
The comeback season went on for the next five months after which he was dropped from the team for his poor run with bat. In this period he scored only 3 fifty plus scores, one in each format. And that was enough for the selection panel to take back the position which itself was considered more like a sympathetic decision. Pointing out the same former captain Sourav Ganguly criticized the selection and captain for allowing Yuvraj without proper match practice in the domestic level. Ipl 2013 turned out be a bad outing for Yuvraj and his franchise as his average read 19.83 in the 13 games he played. For someone who had scored 50 from 12 balls , it was a below par performance.
The next call to the team came last December against Australians, and that too in a T20 match. Things went well on the day as he scored 77 of 35 balls which came with supreme shot selection. Many believed as the return of timing to his bat, but only a few got bothered about the fact that he took on young bowling attacks of West Indians A who toured India. Just like the previous occasion team selection put his name on playing eleven and then followed the ODI series of misery (only for the player himself). In a series called a batting treat(otherwise called as run-porn by one of my friends) Yuvraj' top score was 12 and the total of 19 from 5 matches played.
And the rest is history. He lost the place on ODI team after West Indian series and his body language through out the world cup T20 was poor. Having a captain who has nothing to talk about a fellow player's game directly(not in press meet justifying his decision to retain the player for his capability, talent or whatever it is) and a coach who is like Thushar Kapoor of Golmaal Series, how could one expect a player of low confidence rise like a phoenix from nowhere. The same body language was visible in Sreesanth in the world-cup finals against Sri Lanka in 2011. Extremely low and acting as if he is wandering in desert. That's what Yuvraj has been throughout the tournament that just finished.
You can't expect Dhoni to do a Ganguly, in terms of biting finger nails or raising the spirit by a friendly pat on the back. Not saying that one need to do this all the time(a typical Dhoni's view towards players). But need someone who backs his fellow player with some good conversations. Going back to basics is not bad after all. But these are extremely optimistic considering the situation Yuvraj has been in now. Shedding few kilos or a century in comeback game won't bring back the Yuvraj again. But some real good run in the domestic level and positive backing from the team management and captain (not by trusting his abilities which were once, but covering up the voids in his confidence level) are essentially required for the maestro of shorter format to live up to his reputation here after.
After all, who wouldn't like to see him rule the opposition again. He is the prince of big moments .........
If a cricketing website like "Espn Cricinfo" can forget his glittering knock of Natwest series final which resulted in a successful chase of 325, and purely concentrating on world-cup stories(not a single sentence about world cup of 2003), it is clear that the player profile description talks more like a common man than a cricketing pundit. So what Yuvraj has been said about is, for the lead role in world cup triumphs. Talk about his glory in the past and his potential, he is qualified to be part of any list in shorter formats of the game. And that is where he was misjudged by the team management and his captain. These are some of the many reasons behind the crucifixion act carried out by people for his knock in the tournament decider which ended yesterday. It was sad for any cricket fan who had witnessed his knock but blaming the person alone can't be justified.
Someone who fights with a killer disease and come out victorious is indeed qualified for a second chance in his life in whatever stream he was on. So was Yuvi. But justifying his comeback to the team by taking into account half a dozen half-centuries and a double hundred in domestic tournaments was like allowing a person to drink scotch whisky who had tasted only beer before( now don't think about liquor and where i got this info, purely for writing purpose). That has been the case of Yuvi which the team had to paid price of loosing the chance to lift the trophy for the second time. It was not the only reason for India's loss. But it brought back the game which would have gone to few interesting levels to none. Who should be blamed.? Yuvi....Definitely not....
Putting the cards on the table one by one, which is not going to be treated as an appeal for a further chance, lets just clear the air. Considering the big moment of his life, the comeback game against New Zealand in chennai can be put first. He had put on some extra pounds when entered the arena after one year(11 September 2012). The match was well set up for the hero, by the this-is-my-attitude lad virat kohli after taking India to a level where India required 48 of last 7 overs. with more than 7 wickets in hand it was a sleep walk for the team. But the last over heroic act set up by captain himself and allowing the comeback man to score the winning runs resulted in 1 run loss. Yuvraj's score read 34 of 26 balls which is pleasing to hear but the way in which he scored came out after some uncharacteristic shots which came before only when he was not in the best of his knocks.
The comeback season went on for the next five months after which he was dropped from the team for his poor run with bat. In this period he scored only 3 fifty plus scores, one in each format. And that was enough for the selection panel to take back the position which itself was considered more like a sympathetic decision. Pointing out the same former captain Sourav Ganguly criticized the selection and captain for allowing Yuvraj without proper match practice in the domestic level. Ipl 2013 turned out be a bad outing for Yuvraj and his franchise as his average read 19.83 in the 13 games he played. For someone who had scored 50 from 12 balls , it was a below par performance.
The next call to the team came last December against Australians, and that too in a T20 match. Things went well on the day as he scored 77 of 35 balls which came with supreme shot selection. Many believed as the return of timing to his bat, but only a few got bothered about the fact that he took on young bowling attacks of West Indians A who toured India. Just like the previous occasion team selection put his name on playing eleven and then followed the ODI series of misery (only for the player himself). In a series called a batting treat(otherwise called as run-porn by one of my friends) Yuvraj' top score was 12 and the total of 19 from 5 matches played.
And the rest is history. He lost the place on ODI team after West Indian series and his body language through out the world cup T20 was poor. Having a captain who has nothing to talk about a fellow player's game directly(not in press meet justifying his decision to retain the player for his capability, talent or whatever it is) and a coach who is like Thushar Kapoor of Golmaal Series, how could one expect a player of low confidence rise like a phoenix from nowhere. The same body language was visible in Sreesanth in the world-cup finals against Sri Lanka in 2011. Extremely low and acting as if he is wandering in desert. That's what Yuvraj has been throughout the tournament that just finished.
You can't expect Dhoni to do a Ganguly, in terms of biting finger nails or raising the spirit by a friendly pat on the back. Not saying that one need to do this all the time(a typical Dhoni's view towards players). But need someone who backs his fellow player with some good conversations. Going back to basics is not bad after all. But these are extremely optimistic considering the situation Yuvraj has been in now. Shedding few kilos or a century in comeback game won't bring back the Yuvraj again. But some real good run in the domestic level and positive backing from the team management and captain (not by trusting his abilities which were once, but covering up the voids in his confidence level) are essentially required for the maestro of shorter format to live up to his reputation here after.
After all, who wouldn't like to see him rule the opposition again. He is the prince of big moments .........
