Yuvraj could play a pivotal role by Partab Ramchand

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Player:	Yuvraj Singh
Event:	ICC World Cup 2006/07

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DateLine: 6th March 2007

 

The Indian batting line up remains arguably the most lustrous in international cricket. It has everything – talent and experience, youthful exuberance and seasoned campaigners, stonewallers and swashbucklers, players capable of giving the scoring rate an impetus after a good start or those who can turn things around after a top order collapse, batsmen who can attack from the first ball and also make the most of the slog overs. In a line up that starts with Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag and continues with Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh and Mahender Singh Dhoni besides two relatively untested quantities at the international level in Robin Uthappa and Dinesh Karthik it may well be impossible to single out one cricketer who could provide the star turn during the World Cup. But in my view Yuvraj Singh seems destined to play a crucial role in India’s campaign.

 

In the first place his position in the batting slot is of vital importance. Yuvraj is likely to walk in at No 5 and by then he will know what is to be expected of him. If he has come in after three wickets have fallen cheaply he will have to put his head down and steer the team out of the crisis. If on the other hand he enters when the team is in a healthy situation then he can do what he does best – blaze forth with the kind of attacking strokes that are inimitably his – and give the scoring rate the necessary impetus in the middle and slog overs.

 

The point is that the tall, well built and charismatic cricketer has now achieved the maturity and experience to perform either of these duties with panache so strong is his self belief. In his seventh year of international cricket the left handed Yuvraj has been one of the regulars in the one day team ever since his sparkling 84 against Australia at Nairobi in 2000. Since then he has run up an excellent record of nearly 4500 runs at an average of just over 35 and an impressive strike rate of almost 86. Seven hundreds and 26 half centuries – most of them match winning knocks or compiled in crunch situations – bear testimony to the class and skill of this immensely talented player. Also over the years he has gained in stature as one of the kingpins even in this middle order that enjoys such an exalted status. So much so that when he was missing from the line up for a few months thanks to his knee injury there was something amiss in the middle order. Certainly the Indians missed his aggressive batsmanship in South Africa and his absence was one reason why the tourists lost the ODI series so tamely.

 

Yuvraj was one of the successes of the ODI series in the West Indies last year. This in fact was the culmination of a splendid 2005-06 season that saw him get more than 1400 runs at an average of nearly 57 with five hundreds and eight half centuries. He then went through a rather lean period before the injury put him out of action. But if at all proof was needed that he was back at his buccaneering best it was provided by his superb unbeaten 95 against Sri Lanka at Visakhapatnam a knock that underlined his growing stature as a finisher. Yes, whichever way one looks at it Yuvraj Singh could well hold the key to a successful campaign in the Caribbean.

(Article: Copyright © 2007 CricketArchive)