The worlds of Harry Potter and cricket have few similarities. But Yuvraj Singh’s last innings for the Indian cricket team had some drawing parallels between the two. After a painstaking innings of 11 runs in 21 balls in the final of the World Twenty20 against Sri Lanka in Dhaka last year, Singh was unfavourably compared to a dementor, a creature from the Harry Potter universe that delights in sucking the happiness from living beings.
While the metaphor was perhaps taken a little too far, it was apt nevertheless. Yuvraj Singh had walked in to bat with India scoring briskly. Virat Kohli was firing at the other end and it was the perfect platform for Yuvraj Singh to finish the innings in style and set the Sri Lankans a formidable target.
But things did not go according to plan. Over a painful half hour, the left-hander struggled to put bat on ball and was unable to rotate the strike. Kohli grew increasingly frustrated as the opportunity to score freely was squandered. India went on to lose the final and Singh was dropped from the team.
This incident is worth keeping in mind in light of the decision to select Yuvraj Singh for the Twenty20 series in Australia next month.
Twenty20 flop
The over-riding question is why has Yuvraj Singh been brought back to the Twenty20 squad, a format in which he has had limited success in the recent past? After that best-forgotten World Twenty20 final, Singh played in the Indian Premier League. The Delhi Daredevils paid a hefty sum for his services, but Singh turned out to be one of the biggest flops of the season.
Assuming that the selection was based on recent form, why was Singh not brought into the One Day International squad, where his recent form in the domestic Vijay Hazare Trophy has been far better?
While it is a bitter pill to swallow, the fact is that Yuvraj Singh of 2015 is no longer the player from 2007 who could step up and smash sixes for fun. He still has an explosive array of shots but now requires some time to settle in - the Twenty20 format unfortunately does not afford him that luxury.
Singh's omission from the ODI squad is more perplexing given the selectors' decision to drop Suresh Raina from the One Day International team. Raina has not been in the best of form lately so the decision to leave him out does make cricketing sense. However, it is mind-boggling why the selectors decided not to replace Raina with Yuvraj and give him a fair go in the format the 2011 World Cup's best player has actually excelled in?
A young man’s game
While the rest of the cricketing world uses the Twenty20 format to test potential talent at the international level, India seems to be taking an opposite view.
For the Twenty20 squad, the Indian selectors have decided to bring in 33-year-old Yuvraj Singh and recall the 36-year old pacer Ashish Nehra. The only youngster in the squad is Hardik Pandya. Contrast this with the ODI squad, where the selectors have decided to bring in several fresh talents such as Brainder Sran, Rishi Dhawan, Manish Pandey as well as Gurkeerat Singh Mann, who was also picked for the ODI series against South Africa but did not play a game.
On a brighter note, the bowling finally looks settled with the return of the lionhearted pacer Mohammed Shami after a long injury layoff. Shami was India’s best bowler at the 2015 World Cup, but a knee injury kept him out thereafter. India’s bowling suffered without him, but a course-correction seems to have finally been made. Along with Shami, pacer Umesh Yadav has been included in the side while “dibbly-dobbly” medium-pacers such as Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohit Sharma miss out owing to bad form and injury respectively. With Ravindra Jadeja back in the squad, the spin department looks competent too. However, R Ashwin and Jadeja will find the going much tougher on Australian pitches.
The bigger focus will be on the batting though. With the Australia series shaping up to be a dress rehearsal for the World Twenty20 Championship in March, Yuvraj Singh and Ashish Nehra have been given a final chance to prove their mettle. Another failure and this could probably be their last opportunity to don the national colours.
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While the metaphor was perhaps taken a little too far, it was apt nevertheless. Yuvraj Singh had walked in to bat with India scoring briskly. Virat Kohli was firing at the other end and it was the perfect platform for Yuvraj Singh to finish the innings in style and set the Sri Lankans a formidable target.
But things did not go according to plan. Over a painful half hour, the left-hander struggled to put bat on ball and was unable to rotate the strike. Kohli grew increasingly frustrated as the opportunity to score freely was squandered. India went on to lose the final and Singh was dropped from the team.
This incident is worth keeping in mind in light of the decision to select Yuvraj Singh for the Twenty20 series in Australia next month.
Twenty20 flop
The over-riding question is why has Yuvraj Singh been brought back to the Twenty20 squad, a format in which he has had limited success in the recent past? After that best-forgotten World Twenty20 final, Singh played in the Indian Premier League. The Delhi Daredevils paid a hefty sum for his services, but Singh turned out to be one of the biggest flops of the season.
Assuming that the selection was based on recent form, why was Singh not brought into the One Day International squad, where his recent form in the domestic Vijay Hazare Trophy has been far better?
While it is a bitter pill to swallow, the fact is that Yuvraj Singh of 2015 is no longer the player from 2007 who could step up and smash sixes for fun. He still has an explosive array of shots but now requires some time to settle in - the Twenty20 format unfortunately does not afford him that luxury.
Singh's omission from the ODI squad is more perplexing given the selectors' decision to drop Suresh Raina from the One Day International team. Raina has not been in the best of form lately so the decision to leave him out does make cricketing sense. However, it is mind-boggling why the selectors decided not to replace Raina with Yuvraj and give him a fair go in the format the 2011 World Cup's best player has actually excelled in?
A young man’s game
While the rest of the cricketing world uses the Twenty20 format to test potential talent at the international level, India seems to be taking an opposite view.
For the Twenty20 squad, the Indian selectors have decided to bring in 33-year-old Yuvraj Singh and recall the 36-year old pacer Ashish Nehra. The only youngster in the squad is Hardik Pandya. Contrast this with the ODI squad, where the selectors have decided to bring in several fresh talents such as Brainder Sran, Rishi Dhawan, Manish Pandey as well as Gurkeerat Singh Mann, who was also picked for the ODI series against South Africa but did not play a game.
On a brighter note, the bowling finally looks settled with the return of the lionhearted pacer Mohammed Shami after a long injury layoff. Shami was India’s best bowler at the 2015 World Cup, but a knee injury kept him out thereafter. India’s bowling suffered without him, but a course-correction seems to have finally been made. Along with Shami, pacer Umesh Yadav has been included in the side while “dibbly-dobbly” medium-pacers such as Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohit Sharma miss out owing to bad form and injury respectively. With Ravindra Jadeja back in the squad, the spin department looks competent too. However, R Ashwin and Jadeja will find the going much tougher on Australian pitches.
The bigger focus will be on the batting though. With the Australia series shaping up to be a dress rehearsal for the World Twenty20 Championship in March, Yuvraj Singh and Ashish Nehra have been given a final chance to prove their mettle. Another failure and this could probably be their last opportunity to don the national colours.