Yuvraj and the imaginary slump
Cricketing fame is a fickle beast. Two months ago, after a dazzling one-day century against Australia and a captivating Test hundred against Pakistan - not to mention those Twenty20 high jinks in South Africa - Yuvraj Singh was poised to take over the mantle from India's old guard. The tour of Australia was seen as the ideal place for the coronation, the crucible in which Yuvraj could prove that his time had truly come. Reality though bit very differently.
Instead of coronation, the four Tests and the CB Series have seen him come perilously close to exile. Australia worked him over ruthlessly in two Tests where he seldom looked like scoring a run, and the lean trot continued unabated in a tri-series that has been dominated by bowlers from all three teams. Before this game, Yuvraj's 200th [three of them for an Asia XI] in limited-overs cricket, there was even talk of him missing out in the event of another failure. With talent like Manoj Tiwary and Suresh Raina on the Indian bench, it probably wasn't an idle threat either.
These days, the itinerary is so packed that both journalists and fans struggle to separate Test displays from the coloured-clothes ones. For all his travails in whites, Yuvraj has been India's outstanding one-day batsman for three seasons now, with only Sachin Tendulkar and MS Dhoni approaching him for consistency. After a couple of years to forget, he started to realise his potential in the first year of Greg Chappell's time as Indian coach, and only a nasty knee injury during the 2006 Champions Trophy stalled his progress.
Had he been dropped, Yuvraj would have had good reason to be miffed. Prior to his disastrous start to the CB Series [scores of 2,3 and 6], he had four half-centuries and a 34 in five games against Pakistan. If cricketers were to be dropped on the basis of three bad games, then everyone but for some bloke called Bradman would have had a stop-start career.
On the most 'Indian' of Australia's pitches, Yuvraj batted beautifully, summoning up a fluency that evaded every other batsman. The wristy flourishes through midwicket all came off, and he also cover-drove beautifully when the ball was pitched up for the stroke. Even Muttiah Muralitharan, who has frequently tormented him in the past, failed to faze him, and it was left to Chaminda Vaas to give Sri Lanka hope with a wonderful yorker.
That Sri Lanka didn't win despite a monumental effort from Kumar Sangakkara says much about their batting woes. Once Sanath Jayasuriya backed up too far, the early momentum was lost, and a revival inspired by Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene wasn't capitalised on by those that followed. Apart from Yuvraj and Dhoni, no Indian went past 50, but there were enough handy contributions to edge a tight contest.
Sri Lanka need much more from their middle order, and they need it soon.
Yuvraj batted very well against Sri Lanka ( I was at the ground and saw him bat very well for his 76/70b against a good attack) but is it too much to expect him to shine, let alone be proficient, in all three forms of the game?
Posted by: John T | February 23, 2008 at 01:13 PM