Yuvraj Singh has recently returned from a 6 week long camp at France with close buddy and one of the best fast bowlers in India, Zaheer Khan. The fitness camp took place at Brive la Gaillarde and having completed it he is all ready and eager for another shot of redemption in the national team. MS Dhoni, has recently stated that the Indian team is not going to be made up of youngsters only and this has given the southpaw, one of the most dashing of his kind in the world game, a new lease of hope. Yuvraj feels that Dhoni must have been mindful of the ensuing World Cup in 2015 while he made the above mentioned comments.
He has expressed happiness at the performance of the young guns of the team but at the same time he thinks that the team should have a balance of experience and youth for it to be able to achieve greater heights.
Till the one day series against England, Yuvraj was one of the pillars of the middle order, at least in the limited overs side. He feels that it is okay to not look at one’s previous record while selecting that individual but it is also essential to keep in mind the contribution that the particular cricketer has made and not forget it altogether. Of late, the Indian team, under MS Dhoni, has put a lot of emphasis on being fit and agile on the field. Yuvraj, who has played 282 ODIs and can be regarded as a pioneer of sorts in this domain, has acknowledged the need of the hour and reiterated that representing the national team has always been the focal point of his career.
Interestingly enough, it seems that he is willing to back up his words with deeds and has actually tried to do something different this time around by not choosing the fitness program of the Bangalore based National Cricket Academy. He stated that he chose France because he wanted to get away from the daily distractions that would have been commonplace had he trained at the NCA. He also stated that he wanted to train at a higher altitude and also taste different food and take part in sports other than cricket.
Yuvraj has also revealed that another advantage of training in France was that he could interact on a regular basis with his father Yograj Singh, who was a former test cricketer himself. The crux of the matter was that he was able to focus on what he wanted to do at France. The training, it seems, has rejuvenated him and added that extra spring to his step. The worrying aspect about this is that even though Yuvraj may be chomping on the bits to get started with a game or two before the cricketing season in India kicks off he may have to wait since the Punjab Cricket Association is not taking part in pre-season tournaments such as Buchi Babu or Moin-ud-Dowla.
Given the present composition and performance of the Indian team, there is a slim chance that he can make a return and strangely enough the chances are greater in test cricket, which have not exactly been his forte. Sachin Tendulkar, is expected to call it quits after the South Africa series, and as and when he does so Dhoni might feel the need of having some experience in the middle order and Yuvraj could be one of the candidates here even though he may face stiff competition from the likes of Gambhir, Sehwag and Badrinath. However, I have a sad feeling that Raina and Rohit may have been earmarked for these slots in the Indian test team and this could well be the end of the road for the celebrated Indian cricketer.
Yuvraj, however, needs to be congratulated for at least trying to keep himself ready for whenever the call comes but personally I think he could have headed north of the English Channel after his training in France and played some county cricket, especially first class cricket. This is the format where he has a realistic chance of making a comeback and he should have been working towards it like Gautam Gambhir has done with his stint at Essex.
