We can defend crown: Yuvraj by CricketArchive Staff Reporter

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Player:	Yuvraj Singh
Event:	ICC World Twenty20 2009

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DateLine: 5th June 2009

 

Left-hander Yuvraj Singh said that India are confident about defending the T20 World Championship crown.

 

The middle-order batsman was the star of the Indian batting line-up and made headlines last time around in South Africa, by hitting England's Stuart Broad for six sixes in one over.

 

Yuvraj since then has also honed his bowling skills in the shortest format of the game and has now picked up a habit of picking up hat-tricks. He took a couple of hat-tricks as the skipper of his Kings XI Punjab side in this edition of IPL.

 

But he is cautious about the unpredictable nature of this format and that is perhaps why he is taking nothing for granted as India look to build on an encouraging warm-up campaign when they take on Bangladesh in their opening Group A fixture at Trent Bridge on Saturday night.

 

"We are pretty confident, but the thing is the Twenty20 format is a very unpredictable one," he told the International Cricket Council's Cricket World audio show.

 

"You never know what is going to happen. But India have a very solid team, and we are very confident about defending it."

 

Yuvraj also said that he is convinced that players coming straight from the recently-concluded second edition of the IPL, in South Africa, will surely have an advantage over others.

 

"The World Cup comes at the right time after the IPL," he added. "We've had enough games to practise in the Twenty20 format.

 

"But it's not only Indians - other players all around the world also have that advantage.

 

"I think everybody will have had the practice to come and play the Twenty20 World Cup."

 

As for his own prowess, Yuvraj said much of it has to do with pure enjoyment of the format.

 

"It is good fun. There is not much time to play yourself in - you have got to start from ball one," he said.

 

"To hit six sixes is great when you think about it - but to take two hat-tricks is amazing for a part-timer like me. That's quite funny. I'd be happy with one."