The Hindu : Sport : Yuvraj faces a career crisis

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Thursday, Feb 07, 2008
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Yuvraj faces a career crisis

S. Dinakar

The Indian vice-captain needs to take a leaf out of Dhoni’s book

— Photo: AFP

BATTING BLUES: Yuvraj Singh, with a string of failures with the bat, is looking lost and heavy-footed on the field.

Brisbane: Responsibility has strengthened Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s resolve. In both matches at the ’Gabba, the captain held firm after the opposition had made inroads.

He battled against his instinct to blunt the bowling before launching into it. His is a young team and the skipper is showing the way.

Yuvraj Sigh, the vice-captain, should imbibe a bit of the Dhoni fight. He looked lost in the Test series, and appeared to be in a daze during his brief stint on Tuesday.

Easy dismissal

The left-hander might have been returning from an injury but this is precisely why he should have been tenacious in the initial phase. Muttiah Muralitharan turned one away from him and the catch was pouched in the slip. This dismissal was too easy, too simple. Yuvraj had attempted an ambitious drive without getting to the pitch of the ball. Against someone like Muralitharan, any lack of footwork can be fatal. Yuvraj should have known.

He is not a batsman without ability. In fact, Yuvraj has loads of it. But then, the runs have dried up and he is looking a bit lost and heavy-footed. With every failure, the pressure builds up. In an Indian middle-order, without the stalwarts, Yuvraj has to pull his weight. The man who can swing matches faces a career crisis and the coming days will test his character.

The left-handers have certain inherent advantages while batting. Bowlers are made to switch line and this is never easy. However, competent bowlers can exploit chinks in technique.

Much of cricket is about the proper distribution of bodyweight. These days, Yuvraj seems to be lunging forward than easing into his drives. Without balance, his batting suffers. The fact that he tends to read quality spinners off the pitch than from the hand makes him vulnerable. If the ball hisses off the surface, Yuvraj is in trouble.

Batsmen are studied and scrutinised in international cricket. These days, Yuvraj is being tested by fuller length bowling from a paceman from one end while a spinner operates from the other. Opposition captains have realised that the fuller length-spinner routine works against Yuvraj. A sound back-foot player, he is being forced to come on to his front foot. The deliveries are closer to his body and he is being denied the width for the horizontal bat strokes.

Breakthrough innings

Yuvraj requires a breakthrough innings that will give him back the confidence. He requires to play with the full face of the willow and in the ‘V’. He needs, with a straighter back-lift, to time the ball between mid-off and mid-on off a decisive front foot. And he needs to put a price on his wicket. International cricket is as much about heart as technique. Yuvraj has to build and consolidate.

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