Mumbai, November 21: Yuvraj Singh's fairytale comeback into the Indian team after fighting a rare germ cell cancer has been a matter of great discussion in the cricket fraternity across the world. Those who have played the game over the years and those who have watched him play have been generous in singing their praise.
However, the same people are equally convinced that Yuvraj, despite being the talented player that he is, hasn't done justice to his Test career.
If a cricketer has played only 38 Tests in nine years and the same man has played 220 ODIs in the stipulated period, it makes one curious. The curiosity increases if the player has been anointed a 'special talent' and has been compared with the great Garfield Sobers by cricketers of the calibre and knowledge of former India captain Dilip Vengsarkar.
Constant injuries, sudden loss of form, competing with a strong middle-order and lack of good defensive technique against spin bowling have all been listed as the obstacles in Yuvraj's Test career.
"We certainly need to see a lot more of Yuvraj in Test cricket," said one of the game's greatest allrounders, Kapil Dev. "He has been a very special talent and deserves a lot of credit for the manner in which he fought his illness and came back to international cricket. From here on, he has to strive to do in the longer format what he's managed in One-day cricket and Twenty20."
On Tuesday, veteran cricket writer Makarand Waingankar released a book on Yuvraj summarising his career, struggles and post-illness comeback. The book, titled 'Yuvi', also touches upon Yuvraj and his Test career till now. Former India wicketkeeper and selector Kiran More agreed that "Yuvraj should've played more Test cricket than he has" while another purist from the past, Saad bin Jung, said "it is his technique against quality spin bowling" and "poor defense" that has been the batsman's undoing.
"The century he hit in Lahore, during India's 2003-04 was a great knock," recalls Vengsarkar. It was India's second Test when Yuvraj came in for another left-hander and captain Sourav Ganguly. Vengsarkar also recalls the 169 he scored against the same opposition in Bangalore when they came visiting in 2007. "A fabulous knock," he says.
However, the irony is Yuvraj has either walked into the team to replace somebody and had to go out whenever the player has made a return. The battling half century against Sri Lanka in Galle in 2010 is a case in point.
He was diagnosed with dengue in the following Test at the SSC and lost his spot to Suresh Raina, who promptly scored a hundred on Test debut.
Now, with the middle-order not so packed as it was in the VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid era, the onus is Yuvraj to cement his place in the Test squad. He's done incredibly well to return to international cricket post his illness. But only time will tell if he can sustain himself in cricket's longest format.
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