By Shreyas Bhide
Dhoni has guided India to some fantastic achievments ever since he was made the captain of the Indian ODI squad - the T20 World Cup, CB series in Australia, ODI triumphs in Pakistan and SriLanka and somewhat above average results in the Bangladesh and Pakistan ODI series. Not to forget his sole assignment as the test captain, where he led India to a series leveller win against the Proteas in Kanpur. Amongst all these assignments, barring the T20 World up, Dhoni’s deputy has been a damp squib throughout.
Its been almost 10 months since those purple days, where Yuvraj Singh was taking over any bowling attack to the cleaners. Since then though, luck’s been hard on Yuvi .. or should we say Yuvi has made it tough for himself. Sample this :
Yuvraj Singh has averaged 14.40 in the Sri Lanka series - 72 runs in five innings. Yuvraj is without a fifty in his last ten innings and without a century in the last 17.
Sometimes, only talent is not enough and Yuvraj Singh is realising that the hard way. A year ago, India’s batting superstar was red hot. His consistency, which had been in question from the start of his career in 2000, had become his strength. The southpaw was churning out one match-winning performance after another and it seemed that the country’s most gifted stroke-player had finally arrived. But cricket is a funny game, they say. It takes you to dizzy heights and just when you are enjoying the view from the top, it brings you crashing down. You then become the view.
When India began their three and a half-month tour to Australia in December 2007, Yuvraj Singh was their trump card. In the form of his life, the southpaw’s career was at its peak and he was almost leading the batting when India landed in Australia. His six sixes off Stuart Broad in the Twenty20 World Cup and the annihilation of Pakistan had him on the top of his game. He had the scores to back him and he got a place in the Tests for himself in the packed middle-order, something which had eluded him for a long time. It seemed like Yuvraj could do nothing wrong, but two Tests later, the tide had turned and he was stranded. The swagger , the attitude was amiss and with 17 runs in four innings, suddenly the sky-high confidence was plummeting down. The tour ‘down under’ had suddenly brought the flamboyant southpaw down and under a lot of pressure. And from there began Yuvraj’s fall, which eight months later is reaching new lows. Let the figures speak: Yuvraj Singh has averaged only 25 in 2008. Compare this with his averages of 45, 53 and 43 for 2007, 2006 and 2005 respectively.
This pretty much gives us the picture of how much trouble he is courting. Former cricketers say it is not his mistakes but his stubbornness not to learn from those mistakes which is taking him downhill. “Yuvraj needs to improve his defence a bit more and his goal should be to eventually play for Indian Test side consistently. Then he will become a better player. Talent is very much there - he is a treat to watch,” Wasim Akram, former Pakistan captain was quoted by The Dawn. Perhaps at a time when the southpaw should be leading the young Indian batting brigade, Yuvraj is almost competing with them to keep his place in the side.
His grievance of batting too low down has been taken care of under the leadership of MS Dhoni. His elevation up the order created even more problems for Yuvraj as he seemed all at sea against the pacers and was bamboozled by the spinners. The next few months will be critical for Yuvraj Singh’s career. With the ‘Fab Four’ in the Indian middle order reaching the home stretch of their careers, places are bound to open up. But the likes of Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma and S Badrinath are making a strong case for inclusion and Yuvraj may get left behind in the race.
It does help when you have something to blame, but in Yuvraj’s case, his options are drying up fast. He has nobody and nothing, except himself to blame for the sorry state of affairs.
