The list of 30-probables for the World Cup 2015 squad was announced a week ago. Plenty of youngsters were provided with opportunities and this also reflected the team management’s lack of faith in the experienced pros in the likes of Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh and last but obviously not the least, Yuvraj Singh.
But the question that arises at this point of time is was this selection justified? Well, Yuvraj’s current form in the Ranji Trophy is saying things against it.
Yuvraj smashed back to back centuries in the Ranji Trophy, one of which came today at the MCA stadium which was mostly in favour of the bowlers and the batsmen hardly got any profit of it.
It was the match between Punjab and Maharashtra and Maharashtra opted to bat first. The Punjab bowlers restricted the Maharashtra side to a total of 210 runs. Yuvraj bowled 7 overs in the first innings and bagged a wicket by conceding just 20 runs.
With the bat too, Punjab side was initially struggling and early wickets fell when Yuvraj came in to bat. He smashed a decent knock and also in great pace. He looked comfortable at the crease and looked to play strokes quite easily.
In his previous innings, he scored 130 off 160 deliveries which comprised of 14 fours and 5 sixes. Also in the first innings of that match, he scored 59 runs. Thus clearly, he is a man in form.
Today, he smashed yet another century. He scored 136 runs off 160 deliveries which included 25 fours and a six. This was surely a classy inning from him and he now has 317 runs in his last 3 Ranji innings and surely this reflects his form.
Yuvraj Singh has not played an ODI since December, 2013 and at this present moment, when the World Cup is knocking at the door, Indian batting needed some kind of experience and Yuvraj would have been able to manage things well. But unfortunately, he was excluded from even the 30-man probable list of the World Cup, 2015.
But this is never the end of his career. He can play along for another few years comfortably and it is obvious that he will make his comeback to the national squad and will again contribute to India’s success.
Image Credits: espncricinfo.com