Yuvraj, man with a golden touch
Middle-order batsman proving his worth in the World Cup.
NEW DEHLI:
A joke is doing the rounds at the World Cup that if India’s Yuvraj Singh bats even with a stump, he will return to the dressing-room with at least a half-century under his belt.
The aggressive left-hander has already compiled 341 runs in seven matches with one hundred and four half-centuries at an amazing average of 113.66.
India may have prolific openers in Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag, but Yuvraj has caught the eye with scoring runs in crunch situations as well as taking wickets with his tidy left-arm spin.
He is the tournament’s fourth-highest scorer after Tendulkar (379), Sri Lankan Kumar Sangakkara (363) and Sehwag (342) ahead of next week’s blockbuster semi-final clash with Pakistan in Mohali.
“Finishing a game gives me a lot of confidence going into the next match,” said Yuvraj. “I’m just happy about how I am hitting the ball. My responsibility is to bat till the end whether we are batting first or chasing a target.
“I missed quite a bit of cricket over a year and a half due to injuries and now to come back and play my part in victories is very satisfying.”
The latest example came during the quarter-final against defending champions Australia when he remained unbeaten with 57 to see his team home.
The part-time spinner’s best came when he bagged a maiden five-wicket haul against Ireland in Bangalore after the frontline bowlers struggled to make an impact.
“I am a part-time bowler and when I got those five wickets I was as happy as I was when I scored my first one-day international hundred. I think it’s an achievement for a part-timer to get five wickets.”
Published in The Express Tribune, March 27th, 2011.
A joke is doing the rounds at the World Cup that if India’s Yuvraj Singh bats even with a stump, he will return to the dressing-room with at least a half-century under his belt.
The aggressive left-hander has already compiled 341 runs in seven matches with one hundred and four half-centuries at an amazing average of 113.66.
India may have prolific openers in Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag, but Yuvraj has caught the eye with scoring runs in crunch situations as well as taking wickets with his tidy left-arm spin.
He is the tournament’s fourth-highest scorer after Tendulkar (379), Sri Lankan Kumar Sangakkara (363) and Sehwag (342) ahead of next week’s blockbuster semi-final clash with Pakistan in Mohali.
“Finishing a game gives me a lot of confidence going into the next match,” said Yuvraj. “I’m just happy about how I am hitting the ball. My responsibility is to bat till the end whether we are batting first or chasing a target.
“I missed quite a bit of cricket over a year and a half due to injuries and now to come back and play my part in victories is very satisfying.”
The latest example came during the quarter-final against defending champions Australia when he remained unbeaten with 57 to see his team home.
The part-time spinner’s best came when he bagged a maiden five-wicket haul against Ireland in Bangalore after the frontline bowlers struggled to make an impact.
“I am a part-time bowler and when I got those five wickets I was as happy as I was when I scored my first one-day international hundred. I think it’s an achievement for a part-timer to get five wickets.”
Published in The Express Tribune, March 27th, 2011.