Yuvraj Singh, the vice-captain of Punjab, has made himself available for their next Ranji Trophy game against Vidarbha, which will be played at PCA stadium in Mohali. The news was confirmed by the state association sources themselves.
Punjab missed out on the services of Yuvraj Singh in the first contest as the all-rounder underwent a fitness test at National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bangalore. He was named already named as the vice-captain of the side with Harbhajan Singh named as the captain, but later, it was confirmed that both the players would be missing opening Ranji game. As of now, the news of Yuvraj’s availability has been confirmed whereas there are still doubts over the participation of Harbhajan in Punjab’s next contest.
Yuvraj was not the lone player who underwent the fitness test at NCA as Ravichandran Ashwin, who played the first Ranji Trophy game for Tamil Nadu, also appeared for it. He had himself cleared that he has passed the yo-yo test while the results of Yuvraj Singh’s report are yet to be revealed.
Should Yuvraj clear the test, he might be in contention for a place in the side for the series against New Zealand as the Indian team is in desperate need of an experienced player in the middle order.
Meanwhile, Yuvraj’s comeback in the Punjab side would also mean that he will lead the team, taking over the captaincy from opener Jiwanjot Singh.
The first game that Punjab played was a run-fest that ended in a draw. Riding on a triple century from Prashant Chopra, home side Himachal Pradesh posted a total of 729 on the board. Punjab was right behind total but fell short by a margin of 128 runs of this mammoth total. The match ended in a draw with Himachal Pradesh going away with three points by taking the first-innings lead. Punjab had to satisfy with one point.