Yuvraj Singh’s international career is now looking as good as over. The snub for the recently-concluded series in Sri Lanka had raised a question mark over his career but chief selector MSK Prasad had managed to douse the fire by claiming the southpaw was rested not dropped.
However, the recent turn of events suggests that the World Cup-winning star has fallen down the pecking order as far as the national team is concerned. Also, not getting a place in any of the three squads of the ongoing Duleep Trophy and the Board President’s XI for the upcoming warm-up game against Australia is enough to prove that the team-management is now looking beyond Yuvraj.
In fact, the recent snub indicates that Yuvraj has not only lost his place in the national team, he is also not a part of even the top 74 cricketers in the country. Fifteen of which played during the Sri Lanka series, 45 are playing the Duleep Trophy and the remaining 14 from the squad for the warm-up game against Australia on September 12.
There were speculations that reduced fitness was a big reason behind Yuvraj’s ouster from the team and a BCCI official has now confirmed it.
“Yuvraj’s fitness standards have fallen drastically, and coach Ravi Shastri and skipper Virat Kohli has time and again indicated that a certain fitness standard is a must to cut the national team. The selectors want to look ahead and so does the team management,” the BCCI official, privy to selection matters, told PTI.
Shastri has already made it clear that any player will have to pass the fitness parameters set by the team management to make it to the team which effectively rules him out of the contention for a spot in the team unless he works hard on his fitness.
“There are certain (fitness) parameters put in place and a player will have to fit into those parameters. That’s the fitness part and then the skill element will come. So get that very clear. There are certain parameters and it’s not difficult. If someone doesn’t fit into that, he is really unfit or lazy. If you are aiming to be the best fielding side in the world, you fit into those parameters and then of course the skill element comes into play,” he was quoted as saying by Indian Express earlier this month.
Meanwhile, with the BCCI being forced to reinstate Duleep Trophy on the technical committee’s insistence, the official also said that it was the reason behind the board’s decision to select IPL performers like Rahul Tripathi, Nitish Rana, and Washington Sundar.
“The Duleep Trophy certainly sent the selectors’ plans haywire. With Duleep on, this was the best set of domestic players available. People like Rahul and Washington have done well in the IPL while a few like Govinda and Shivam did decently in Vijay Hazare Trophy for their state sides,” the BCCI official told PTI on conditions of anonymity.
Squad for the warm-up game:
Rahul Tripathi, Mayank Agarwal, Shivam Chaudhary, Nitish Rana, Govinda Poddar, Gurkeerat Mann, Shreevats Goswami, Akshay Karnewar, Kulwant Khejroliya, Kushang Patel, Avesh Khan, Sandeep Sharma, Washington Sundar, Rahil Shah.