Bring in Yuvraj for Australia Test series: Wright

[DesiChap]

MELBOURNE, November 30: Former coach John Wright feels India will have to draft in Yuvraj Singh in place of a senior batsman in their Test side to have any chance of toppling Australia at home in next month's Test series. "I hope Yuvraj gets a good look in as he plays well on hard and fast wickets. If you are aiming at succession planning, you have to be looking at getting him involved as soon as you can," the former New Zealand opener was quoted as saying in the 'Herald Sun'. Yuvraj was man of the series in the ODIs against Pakistan but has been overlooked for the ongoing Test series. Wright, who coached India from 2000 to 2005, said it was not fair to keep the talented left-hander out of the Test fold. "There are some for whom age is not on their side and their last performance counts. They are under some pressure," said Wright. "Yuvraj wasn't named in the Test side but he was the player of the One-day tournament against Pakistan (272 runs at 68). I hope he gets involved. It is just time," he added. The newly-appointed high-performance manager of the New Zealand team felt that apart from brining in Yuvraj, India will have to be at their aggressive best to rattle the Aussies in their backyard. "If the openers can get through the first hour in games like Aakash Chopra and Virender Sehwag did on the last tour, that will allow the middle-order batsmen to play well," he said. "India has the ability to bat well, get big first-innings runs and put pressure on. If India's brave enough to bat first, play their two spinners and catch well, it will be a very good series," he added. Wright also gave a thumbs up to Anil Kumble's appointment as India's Test captain and said the veteran leg-spinner would be crucial to the visitors' chances Down Under. "Anil will be a very good Test captain. I am very pleased he has got that job," Wright said. "There's a situation where you can get a side chasing against quality spin bowlers, 200 can be interesting in the last innings," he explained. Wright dismissed former Australian coach John Buchanan's assertion that Sachin Tendulkar would be susceptible to raw pace early on in his innings. "He's getting older but I don't think he minds a few around his ears. He is probably expecting them," Wright said. India will play a four-Test series against the Australians starting December 26 here. http://cricket.indiatimes.com/Bring_in_Yuvraj_for_Australia_Test_series_Wright_/articleshow/2583930.cms

[gator]

Not Yet

[Cricketics]

i hope he is atleast picked in the squad.. which he deserves.. one of those 15 man slots is certainly of Yuvraj.. don't really have any prb with any senior playing and Yuvi not.. but ya yuvi deserves his test slot in the squad..

[siddhu]

i agree.. he should be in the squad... KKD is struggling on FTs of India, i am sure he will keep up his good work. We will need UV to open (not a good idea but maybe). We should have 2 batsmen (UV, Sehwag), 2 bowlers(Pathan, Munaf if RP and SS are available) in the squad other then the regular squad which picks itself.

[sm332]

Actor bowling some great balls here ... making the batsman hop around no luck for him

[beetle]

If he does well in the domestic matches...he should go....

[PaiN_KiLLeR]

yeah every cricket expert says yuvraj should be in the playing 11, but no one has the courage to say who should be dropped to accomodate him

[sm332]

this is a good problem to have though ... yuvraj breathing down their necks .. .thus far Gangs and VVS have shown up ... VVS moving that career avg to a more becoming 45 now

[Anakin]

Yuvi wasn't all that impressive against ODIs vs OZs, I don't think he'll do much better there anyway in test matches. RD and SRT are few leagues above UV, Dada and Laxman are in great form, the only place he might be able to play is in the opening, but that probably will result in failure given he has never been an opener and that too against OZs, not entirely his fault, but if that happens it'll be even worse for his career.

[The Outsider]

this is a good problem to have though ... yuvraj breathing down their necks .. .thus far Gangs and VVS have shown up ... VVS moving that career avg to a more becoming 45 now

Laxman's career average is misleading. He should be judged on the basis of his average in the middle order and not as an opener, which is close to 50.

[kumble_rocks]

Laxman's career average is misleading. He should be judged on the basis of his average in the middle order and not as an opener' date=' which is close to 50.[/quote'] Not as opener is averaging around 46.31 . ( 48.19 at No 3 , 45 at No 5 and 45.76 at No 6 ) according to cricinfo stats . Can you please tell me how you got close to 50 ?

[The Outsider]

Laxman at the end of this innings has 5273 runs in 85 tests and 138 innings with 19 not outs averaging 44.31 Laxman as an opener in 15 tests and 25 innings with 1 not out has 685 runs at an average of 28.54 That leaves 4588 runs scored in the midde order in 113 innings with 18 not outs with an average of 48.29. Pretty close to 50, I say!

[Rohan495]

Let Yuvraj open the innings then. Thats what Laxman was forced to do early in his career but once the middle order slots opened up he changed his position same should apply to yuvraj. Yuvraj role should not be to pressure people out of the team it should be to adjust his game to the team needs, so let him open the innings.

[kumble_rocks]

Yuvraj has already stated that he is willing to open. The question is , will the selectors drop Karthik for Yuvi or Gambhir ?

[Ranvir]

Ganguly should be dropped. He loves playing against crappy bowling attacks. Look at the 2003 WC when scored all those runs against the minnows but cocked up against the real teams. Now he is facing a weak Pakistani attack and making runs. It was a mistake bringing him back in the first place.

[fineleg]

Ganguly should be dropped. He loves playing against crappy bowling attacks. Look at the 2003 WC when scored all those runs against the minnows but cocked up against the real teams. Now he is facing a weak Pakistani attack and making runs. It was a mistake bringing him back in the first place.

oh-oh, There is going to be one very angry Anakin :D

[The Outsider]

Ganguly should be dropped. He loves playing against crappy bowling attacks. Look at the 2003 WC when scored all those runs against the minnows but cocked up against the real teams. Now he is facing a weak Pakistani attack and making runs. It was a mistake bringing him back in the first place.

Yeah, highest scorer in South Africa, second highest in England, crucial second innings knock in the chase here, century now. Let's drop him.

[living]

i hope he is atleast picked in the squad.. which he deserves.. one of those 15 man slots is certainly of Yuvraj.. don't really have any prb with any senior playing and Yuvi not.. but ya yuvi deserves his test slot in the squad..

Doesn't deserve a spot unless he plays at least 1 ranji game ....

[living]

Ganguly should be dropped. He loves playing against crappy bowling attacks. Look at the 2003 WC when scored all those runs against the minnows but cocked up against the real teams. Now he is facing a weak Pakistani attack and making runs. It was a mistake bringing him back in the first place.

Had gangs not scored those important runs there was a good chance we would have lost to those minnows ....

[Donny]

yeah every cricket expert says yuvraj should be in the playing 11' date=' but no one has the courage to say who should be dropped to accomodate him[/quote'] Exactly. It's just another meaningless opinion.