Matt Page
Sport News 24/7Yuvraj India Test cricket career reaches crucial juncture
By Matt Page, on 4th August 2011, 14:37 UTC
I first recall watching Yuvraj Singh in action when India toured England in 2002. When Yuvraj and Mohammad Kaif joined forces at the crease in the final of the Natwest Trophy, India needed another 180 runs at 7-an-over. Only the bravest or most fanatical of Indians would have bet upon the two young tyros to go on and win the game, but win it they did. Yuvraj was out before the end while Kaif remained unbeaten, but it was the patience, skill and then power of Yuvraj that fixed itself in the minds eye.
Kaifs career has since stalled and subsided, but Yuvraj went onto some extent. But how much can we say that he has improved by in the past nine years? For a long while he was the 'anointed one': destined to be the first to step into the test-match spikes vacated when one of the four batting giants retired. And so it transpired, in 2008 when Sourav Ganguly bowed out: the time had come for Yuvraj to shine on the test stage alongside the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman in the approaching twilight of their careers.
Two and a half years on from that moment and where does he stand? Playing again in the Indian middle order, but only due to the absence of Sehwag and Gambhir. He sits behind Suresh Raina, probably Cheteshwar Pujara and maybe soon Virat Kohli in the pecking order, especially now that the Indian injury hoodoo has struck to rule him out of the remainder of the series.
It was painful to watch both Yuvraj and Raina struggle so desperately against the short ball at Trent Bridge and both have received enough criticism for it. But if I had to pick which player is more likely to come away from the match and practice and persevere, accept the blows on the body with determination and return to conquer the demons, I would undoubtedly choose Raina. Five years younger than Yuvraj and already picked once to captain his country in the absence of the senior players, Raina shows more ability to shoulder responsibility and will to be the best he can be than Yuvraj does.
So what is it with Yuvraj? He's clearly got a huge amount of talent and is very rewarding to watch in full flow, but three test centuries in 35 matches tells its own story. A mischievous person might suggest that Yuvraj is all to happy bashing out sixes on a national highway in Hyderabad (quote Harbhajan Singh), but when confronted with the challenge of a swinging ball and short pitched bowling, he just doesn't fancy it.
My fear is that he'll fancy it even less after having the index finger on his left hand broken by a Tim Bresnan bouncer. But even before that moment, and indeed right back to the start of the test match, Yuvraj's body language was interesting to watch. His fielding was passable, but lacked the electricity and commitment that one might expect to have seen from a player trying to force his way back into the first XI. His first innings batting garnered results, but he was dropped early in an innings which was far from chanceless.
It's true that every player is different, and Yuvraj is much closer to the insouciance of a Chris Gayle than the flinty-eyed focus of a Dravid or a Jonathan Trott, but can it really be the case that his obvious failures at the highest level do not irk him? He is undoubtedly a rich man due to his skills in the games shortest form, and he is at the moment secured of a place within India's limited-overs sides, so why should he feel the need to focus all his will on regaining his test place?
To me, he need not go far to find out the answer: just ask Sachin. Or for that matter Dravid, Laxman or Sehwag. All four are famed and revered for their achievements in test matches, and two of them havent played the shorter forms of the international game for some time. The game will move on from them and their era, thats for sure, but it's still test cricket that gives the fullest and most challenging inspection of a batsmans worth, both technically, mentally and physically. A Yusuf Pathan or a Kieron Pollard can belt any number of fifties and hundreds in the shorter forms of the game, but until theyve compiled a few Dravidian test match centuries, they won't be counted amongst the greats of the game.
And so here is my challenge to Yuvraj Singh: do you want to be remembered as a great batsman? Do you want to be recalled in the same breath as the likes of Tendulkar, or consigned to a footnote of cricket history? Do you want to bask in personal glory, or live, however rich, in complacency?
You can come back from this and succeed Yuvi. One sparkling innings of redemption...you just have to want it enough.
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Kaifs career has since stalled and subsided, but Yuvraj went onto some extent. But how much can we say that he has improved by in the past nine years? For a long while he was the 'anointed one': destined to be the first to step into the test-match spikes vacated when one of the four batting giants retired. And so it transpired, in 2008 when Sourav Ganguly bowed out: the time had come for Yuvraj to shine on the test stage alongside the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman in the approaching twilight of their careers.
Two and a half years on from that moment and where does he stand? Playing again in the Indian middle order, but only due to the absence of Sehwag and Gambhir. He sits behind Suresh Raina, probably Cheteshwar Pujara and maybe soon Virat Kohli in the pecking order, especially now that the Indian injury hoodoo has struck to rule him out of the remainder of the series.
It was painful to watch both Yuvraj and Raina struggle so desperately against the short ball at Trent Bridge and both have received enough criticism for it. But if I had to pick which player is more likely to come away from the match and practice and persevere, accept the blows on the body with determination and return to conquer the demons, I would undoubtedly choose Raina. Five years younger than Yuvraj and already picked once to captain his country in the absence of the senior players, Raina shows more ability to shoulder responsibility and will to be the best he can be than Yuvraj does.
So what is it with Yuvraj? He's clearly got a huge amount of talent and is very rewarding to watch in full flow, but three test centuries in 35 matches tells its own story. A mischievous person might suggest that Yuvraj is all to happy bashing out sixes on a national highway in Hyderabad (quote Harbhajan Singh), but when confronted with the challenge of a swinging ball and short pitched bowling, he just doesn't fancy it.
My fear is that he'll fancy it even less after having the index finger on his left hand broken by a Tim Bresnan bouncer. But even before that moment, and indeed right back to the start of the test match, Yuvraj's body language was interesting to watch. His fielding was passable, but lacked the electricity and commitment that one might expect to have seen from a player trying to force his way back into the first XI. His first innings batting garnered results, but he was dropped early in an innings which was far from chanceless.
It's true that every player is different, and Yuvraj is much closer to the insouciance of a Chris Gayle than the flinty-eyed focus of a Dravid or a Jonathan Trott, but can it really be the case that his obvious failures at the highest level do not irk him? He is undoubtedly a rich man due to his skills in the games shortest form, and he is at the moment secured of a place within India's limited-overs sides, so why should he feel the need to focus all his will on regaining his test place?
To me, he need not go far to find out the answer: just ask Sachin. Or for that matter Dravid, Laxman or Sehwag. All four are famed and revered for their achievements in test matches, and two of them havent played the shorter forms of the international game for some time. The game will move on from them and their era, thats for sure, but it's still test cricket that gives the fullest and most challenging inspection of a batsmans worth, both technically, mentally and physically. A Yusuf Pathan or a Kieron Pollard can belt any number of fifties and hundreds in the shorter forms of the game, but until theyve compiled a few Dravidian test match centuries, they won't be counted amongst the greats of the game.
And so here is my challenge to Yuvraj Singh: do you want to be remembered as a great batsman? Do you want to be recalled in the same breath as the likes of Tendulkar, or consigned to a footnote of cricket history? Do you want to bask in personal glory, or live, however rich, in complacency?
You can come back from this and succeed Yuvi. One sparkling innings of redemption...you just have to want it enough.
India v England Edgbaston Tickets
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