The Asian Post
NEW DELHI: In sport, precocious talent is a seductress. If that talent even as much as shows signs of realising its potential, even the most rational of observers would be willing to cut it some slack when the said talent isn’t producing the promised goods. Especially if the talent also has produced an impressive track record, even if it is no longer anywhere near its peak, it is almost impossible to wean away from those glory days and the imagined possibilities. The name Yuvraj Singh still conjures up images of his bat, at the bottom of a regal downswing, making the sweetest thock as it made contact with leather. The mind is crowded with scenes from matches where he, time and again, was instrumental in yet another run chase. Balls sent racing past the bowlers with seemingly most minimal of effort and brutal assaults that launched sixes with just a flick of the wrist, as commentators on air cooed like cheerleaders at the sheer majesty of skill and talent on display, they all come flooding back.
Then came the ultimate embarrassment for a batsman so pure, as he was recalled for the 2014 World T20 in Bangladesh, when he pottered around in the final. As I was making my way to the post-match presser, a seasoned Indian TV commentator declared to me, “He is done.” Yuvraj averaged less than 20 in his six innings in that tournament while striking at less than a run a ball. It wasn’t hard to agree with that commentator’s view, and soon Yuvraj was off the India scene. But then, we already know the pull Yuvraj’s talent has on people’s minds. He was again back in the Indian T20I side for a three match series in Australia and was part of the 2016 World T20 squad. Perhaps, the tournament being played in India, and the successes of Yuvraj from the last time a global cricket tournament was held in India, swayed the judgment of the selectors. In four innings, he averaged a measly 13 runs with a strike rate of exactly 100. He would then soon be dropped from the limited overs squad to Zimbabwe, and that brings us to January 2017, when he is back not just in the T20I side, but also the ODI squad for the home series against England! The selectors have said that Yuvraj’s impressive domestic form – and quite possibly his career record – convinced them to pick him again, even as there are plenty of younger talents waiting in the wings, some of them warming even the benches. No question he has been the leading run getter for Punjab in the 2016-17 Ranji season and that he averaged 45 in 20 List A games since his last ODI for India in 2013, but the time to revisit Yuvraj is long gone and it was most definitely the time to test out some of the younger batsmen ahead of the Champions Trophy in England this summer.
