Yuvi definitely a frontrunner for Test slot: Chief selector

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Post run riot, Yuvi front-runner for Dada's Test spot After blowing England away with his hurricane hitting despite a bad back, Yuvraj Singh has bounced back strongly into contention as the man most likely to take over the spot left vacant by the retirement of Sourav Ganguly in the Indian Test middle-order. More... Post run riot, Yuvi front-runner for Dada's Test spot Agencies Posted: Nov 15, 2008 at 1451 hrs IST Rajkot, November 15:: After blowing England away with his hurricane hitting despite a bad back, Yuvraj Singh has bounced back strongly into contention as the man most likely to take over the spot left vacant by the retirement of Sourav Ganguly in the Indian Test middle-order. Yuvraj came into the first of seven ODIs in Rajkot with his confidence a bit low, as he admitted at the post-match media conference, following his lean stretch in domestic cricket. "I was a bit nervous as I had not scored many runs over the last few weeks. But the blazing start provided by Viru and Gambhir allowed me to play quietly in the beginning. The fact that Suresh Raina was playing shots at the other end also eased the pressure on me.? "It gave me time to settle down and in getting to know what the wicket was about," he said. "I did not go into the match today with the intention of proving anything to anyone other than myself. I wanted to prove to myself that I was good enough to play at this level," he declared after admitting that he was disappointed for being ignored for the Test team against Australia. By the time he finished the game in India's favour with an incredible, unbeaten 138, not many doubts would have remained in the minds of the vast majority of Indian fans that he's the front-runner to take up Ganguly's slot. Taking full advantage of the electric start given by Sehwag and Gambhir, who put on a century stand at six an over, the Punjab left-hander simply plundered the strong England pace attack and cut it to shreds with six sixes and 16 fours. England skipper Kevin Pietersen admitted after the match that Yuvraj's batting was fabulous. "Yuvraj played an absolutely fantastic innings. He hit even good balls for sixes," Pietersen said after tasting defeat for the first time as the England captain since taking over the reins in the last English summer from the out-of-form Michael Vaughan. Former national selector Anshuman Gaekwad says if he was on the current panel, Yuvraj would be his first choice to fill in the slot vacated by Ganguly. "Definitely, I would choose him ahead of all other claimants. He is the man best suited for the job. His left-handedness is also an advantage as he will replace another left-hander in the line-up," the 56-year-old former India opener said. Gaekwad, who played 40 Tests between 1975 and 1984, also said the 26-year-old player has already proved his worth at the Test level, besides other internationals, while other contenders like Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina and S Badrinath will have to wait for their turns. "One has to appreciate the way he played yesterday. He has also proved himself in the Test and ODIs. Others have to prove themselves and have not done as much as Yurvaj has. He is way ahead," the former India coach emphasised. Yuvraj's Test career has seen a lot of ups and downs and his recent ODI record also resembles a yo-yo. After being one of the star performers in the Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa, he scored a Test century against Pakistan in Bangalore, his third ton and all against India's arch-rivals. But the stylish batsman went off the boil on India's tour of Australia and lost his Test spot. He was moderately successful in the only other chance he got later -- against South Africa in the third and last Test in Kanpur in April -- but was not given a look-in against Australia in any of the recent four Tests. Yuvraj was totally ignored despite hitting a blazing hundred against Ricky Ponting's men in the four-day warm-up game at Hyderabad prior to the series for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. He has played only 23 Tests since making his debut against New Zealand at his home ground in Mohali five years ago, an indication not only of his inconsistency but also the difficulty to break into the steely middle order thus far comprising the 'Fab Four'. Yuvraj has had a modest run at Test level to date, having accumulated just over a thousand runs at a little above 32 per innings average. He has simply not justified his own potential thus far in the longer version of the game. The retirement of Ganguly has now thrown up a new opportunity to Yuvraj to cement his place, if selected, as the graceful Bengal stalwart's long-term replacement. The selectors will have to take the call on Yuvraj when announcing the team for the first of two Tests against England commencing in Ahmedabad on December 11. Prior to that he has a chance to impress them further in the remaining six ODIs against England ahead of the Test rubber.

[fineleg]

as cc1981 wud say - Boolsheet odi, tests, day, night

[cricketman]

I guess we'll only be playing with 10 people in the team then, Yuvraj will injure himself and not field, and will be a walking wicket. :D Jokes. but we are that good ;)

[cochise]

YESSS! No more qualified a man for the job!

[fineleg]

what a joke. Dont people see the diff between Tests and ODIs, starting with pitches to almost everything else that is cricket!

[Sachinism]

OK Yuvi played a good innings, but lets see how he does for the rest of the tournament, there is no way I'd put him 1st in line for that test spot. Too many other players have worked so hard and consistently scored runs to be over looked

[cochise]

Yuvi will do well at any level. He deserves it and he will have it. Watch and see. He is a matchwinner. Like Dhoni.

[diegovegaz]

his spot is not guaranteed at the moment he needs to be consistent throughout the series, only then he will be in the spot light but he is surely the man who ought to replace good old dada

[flamy]

As much as I like Yuvi, I would want Raina in the test team before him. Maybe Yuvi can replace Dravid...

[fineleg]

when is Test squad to be announced - 5th or 6th ODI?

[punjabi_khota]

what a joke. Dont people see the diff between Tests and ODIs, starting with pitches to almost everything else that is cricket!

Ya, he is Gaekwad. What does he know about test cricket.:giggle:

[fineleg]

^ Right, and every (selection) decision of select or drop a player, that Test greats like Anshuman, Vengcircus and Kiran More did were based on logic, cricketing acumen etc :giggle: If so, there would have hardly been debates on Vengcircus' decisions (for eg) on ICF

[Guest HariSampath]

Yuvraj is an automatic choice. To me he has played one of the top 5 test innings over the past year, his 175 coming in at 60-4 when the ball was seaming , was a class act. He is a matchwinning batsman at the level of a Sehwag, and should always be in the test 11, should have never been dropped. He has played 23 tests in all and got 4 centuries....btw, RD's last 23 tests have been abysmal In India we have this habit of being too sentimental and think that team games are meant as a reward for some players, but the tragedy is really good players like Yuvraj get missed out and do not get the continuous opportunities they deserve. In Gambhir's case too, he scored very well in the CB series in Aus, and was drafted into the test side, and we all see how he has done. Similarily, if Yuvraj gets another 100, he is going to walk into the test 11 for sure. An Indian 11 with Sehwag , Gambhir, Yuvraj and Dhoni is the perfect recipe to try and force wins.

[Willow_on_fire]

As much as I like Yuvi' date= I would want Raina in the test team before him. Maybe Yuvi can replace Dravid...

well not to sure about that....you called Yuvi "chakka of the year" in a bad taste when he got the ICC award for his performance in India's 20/20 world cup...I just don't get it... I'm a Yuvi fan who backs him to the hilt...but also criticize him when he fails to deliver for his country....but definetely not the way some of you guys insult a player like him.

[Willow_on_fire]

It won't matter much if Yuvi is'nt fit for the second ODI..there are many good batsmen in the team...besides England don't seem like a formidable opponent.

[Guest HariSampath]

I dont think Yuvraj has been ruled out. They may probably decide on him tomorrow morning. Even if he is slightly uncomfortable, he will prefer to sit out , take a few days rest and then play 5 more games , especially with the test series coming up and he is being tipped as a hot fav to play in the 11. If he doesnt play, it would be Vijay, because he has done well recently in the test, and can be broken into the ODI team, and can also be asked to sit out when Yuvraj returns.

[cricketman]

As much as I like Yuvi' date=' I would want Raina in the test team before him. Maybe[b'] Yuvi can replace Dravid...

Bwahahah! Dravid is a wall and Yuvraj is a slogger. No way can you make the swap there. The future fab four should be: Dravid > Badrinath Tendulkar > ??? Not a Rohit Sharma fan but by the looks of it seems he's going to get the spot. Ganguly > Raina Laxman > Pujara As of now.

[DomainK]

I think YS deserves another chance. Way too much talent to ignore so soon. The best would be to bring him back in a home series so that he finds it easy to settle down to the format and then will start delivering abroad. Get him in again England.

[h4te]

Dravid > Badrinath Tendulkar > ??? Not a Rohit Sharma fan but by the looks of it seems he's going to get the spot. Ganguly > Raina Laxman > Pujara As of now.

i approve of this post. Yuvraj can stick to T20s and ODIs. He gets injured waay too often. so, prolly won't be able to sustain all three formats....

[punjabi_khota]

Bwahahah! Dravid is a wall and Yuvraj is a slogger. No way can you make the swap there. The future fab four should be: Dravid > Badrinath Tendulkar > ??? Not a Rohit Sharma fan but by the looks of it seems he's going to get the spot. Ganguly > Raina Laxman > Pujara As of now.

:hysterical::hysterical::hysterical: