how do you feel about yuvraj getting dropped from test team...?

shared by straight point on Monday, September 20, 2010

so yuvraj singh is dropped from the test team...and not 'rested' as they mildly put for more accomplished players...

he was recently dropped from an odi team owing to 'fitness and form' and then was allowed to sleep walk later both in test and odi team without proving either fitness or form so i am not reading too much into him getting dropped...

or should i...?

if i were yuvraj i would punish myself no less than spending a day with ijaz butt for squandering a spot which was presented to him on platter after ganguly's retirement... for not respecting the highest form of cricket enough although one can hear the tape recorded statements that how one loves and yearns to be a test cricketer...

he was seen as natural successor of ganguly but with more attacking game if not grit to fight it out... and that is where, i think, he let it go...

we might never know whether yuvraj could offer us only that much or with more application he had it in him to seal the spot for competition...

so on a day when yuvraj being dropped from the team seems much bigger news than the selection of cheteshwar pujara... sadly i don't feel sad about yuvraj getting dropped from the test team...

27 comments:

Mahek said...

I don't think anyone other than Yuvraj and his parents feel sad about him being dropped.

straight point said...

:)

i said sadly coz as cricket fan it should feel sad after seeing another talent going down the drain for cheap frills...

Balajhi said...

Not surprised SP. But for Pujara pressure, selectors may have retained him.

I will be disappointed if he fails to return with form. We certainly need him for the world cup. Yuvraj's presence at the crease, when in form, is intimidating for bowlers. I just hope he works on his fitness and game. He has to get his focus back on cricket and only cricket. It would be better if he spends some time away from his father and preferably at NCA with some weekend dinner with Dravid / Kumble. He could learn a lot from these gents on staying focus in cricket.

Balajhi said...

I meant his return to ODI cricket. We need him there.

straight point said...

for once i was thrilled to read when cheeka said "sheer weight of performance" let pujara in the team... no surprise to displace 'heavy weight' like yuvraj one needed the 'sheer weight' of peformance.... ;D

but i agree he is still a valuable and vital player as far as odi cricket goes and hopefully this jolt will make him apply more irrespective of spending evening with kumble or dravid which can prove counter productive... :D

raj said...

I think Yuvraj just doesnt cut it as a test player. Yes, he is good enough to convert the easy opportunities but is he a match-winner? I mean, i think match winners are overrated anyway but that is the excuse to keep many a dud in the team. In this case, Yuvraj clearly is not a match winner which is his USP in the ODI team. Therefore, it seems a logical step. I only wish Pujara had been blooded and groomed earlier.
As it is, I feel Dravid WILL retire after or during the Aussie series so Pujara has to hit the ground running.

straight point said...

raj... that is why i was livid with selectors who bowed down to seniors quest of some cheap runs when they could have easily included players like che for deshi tour...

but i hope che is given some rope coz the pressure of not even the performance but high expectations is already on him...

as for yuvi... with every of his outing i increasingly felt that we was not up to the rigors of standing five days in heat to wait for his turn... concentration problem tha bhai... and i think this also affected his, bread and butter, odi game...

Soulberry said...

I was surprised he stuck to the same reactions. There is a lingering sense of entitlement that prevents him from doing what he needs to do. He has one final year to do all he needs to do and resurrect his Test career.

elegantstroke said...

because of this fellow getting picked even when he is not in form (politics and seniors preference), S Badrinath had to sit out for a lot of test series - when he was scoring heaps of runs, just like how Pujara has been doing for the past 2 years. Finally, the selectors have opened their eyes. Hopefully Pujara will get a decent run at the highest level.
So in summary, for your question the answer is - it feels great.

Unknown said...

I am pretty sure that India does not have much of a chance at the World Cup without Yuvraj... but India does not have much of a chance with Yuvraj in present form either.

It is good that he will play some competitive cricket at the Irani Trophy. One might argue that he should have been picked for BP XI as well. But I am happy with the selectors' choices for the 3 teams.

The BP XI will test the mettle of a few youngsters against a tough test side. Yuvraj's mettle need not be tested now... what he needs is practice and more practice and more practice.

straight point said...

yes sb... fully agree with you on that... in all these years his game remained the same or to put it aptly stagnated... while his fitness nose dived alarmingly... a clear indication of sense of entitlement...

lets see how he takes this snub but i am more willing to give test cap to the players who value it and capable to keep the legacy of fab four going... and not only on field...

straight point said...

es... badri is still young and can still make it... but of what i have seen him he seems to be india's ramprakash who will make heap of runs in domestic level but struggle to replicate it at international level... tho i would love to be proved wrong...

pujara, without facing a single ball at international level, already faces high level of expectation and anticipation... i hope he is given his space and media not pounce on him for his success (or failure)... which is very important...

straight point said...

yes shri i agree... the talent of yuvraj need not be tested what he needs is shun the tyre around his waist and the lethargy which has crept in his game...

Unknown said...

SP, from what I have followed, that tyre is losing the air. It is less inflated than what it was during the IPL and I hope it is completely punctured and out of air in a couple of months.

A Yuvraj of 2007 would be great for India in 2011.

vmminerva said...

Echo your sentiments on Yuvi. He will have to put in some decent effort to come back.

Thrilled for Pujara, though!

straight point said...

thanks vm... how wonderful it will be if we see him debuting in the series as well...

elegantstroke said...

sp, badri has played only 2 tests and it is harsh to judge him that he is like mark ramprakash (who has played 52 tests). and badri is already 30 yrs, blooming now at the international level would be like mike hussey (who just kept scoring heaps of domestic runs while trying to break into a real strong batting lineup). IMO, Badri has been given a raw deal, when he was at his peak - he was overlooked due to some favoritism/zonal politics.

Unknown said...

@elegantstroke, it would be wrong to say that Badri was overlooked due to politics / zonal bias.

When Badri was scoring heaps of domestic runs, India's middle order was scoring heaps of international runs. The only vacancy was the opening slot and I am sure Badri was far better playing middle order in domestic cricket rather than as India's experiment as an opener in international cricket.

I know that selectors are now overlooking him due to his age. Michael Hussey story sounds very good and looks good too when pulled off. But the selectors will be made to look like fools if they try to draft in Badri right now to make him another Michael Hussey and the move fails to pay off.

I think Badri is just one of those extremely talented Indian batsmen who had the misfortune of playing his best cricket in the generation of Fab Four. Sad, but true!

straight point said...

i agree that he should have been given a chance when he was at his peak... but that does not take away the skill the talent you have...

don't get me wrong... i am also one of his supporter and you can check by clicking it here but somehow whenever he played he failed to convince me as the player who can keep the competition at bay for long... although as i said it could just be me...

raj said...

Badri's misfortune was not the Fab 4. Yuvi and Kaif got chances when the fab 4 were injured or rested. In that, Yuvi over Badri was a legacy of his ODI success and undeserved. Then, when Gangs retired, Badri should have got a chance but they waited for Yuvi to fail, re-fail and double-confirm-fail before giving chances to Badri. Thats where he lost out absolutely.
Another point is Badri might have got his chance when past his domestic best. Note that his domestic runs are also less compelling than his peak when he got his test chances.
It is marginal anyway and we cant say how well Badri might have performed but the point here is that we get dazzled by Limited Overs success and ignore the Badris and Pujaras for long. Luckily, Pujara came early and is still young else he would have ended up as another Badri

The whole concept of picking test players on ODI and T20 form must go!

I mean, Raina succeeded and all but really, CHe should have been selected ahead of him.

straight point said...

Badri should have got a chance but they waited for Yuvi to fail, re-fail and double-confirm-fail before giving chances to Badri. Thats where he lost out absolutely.

absolutely fair assessment raj...

this is what i said y'day...

in my team CHE would have made it far ahead of rohit sharmas, suresh rainas but that is my team... in team india... he will have to wait till endless chances would be bestowed on players like yuvraj... rohit sharmas to make it certain that there is no test cricket in them...or drag seniors like dravid, sachin and laxman till there is no test cricket left in them...

luckily for che his sheer weight of numbers and some pressure from all quarters almost arm-twisted our selectors to look beyond certain set of preferred players...

another thing which i am saying repeatedly at various places is that now che is selected we must give him much needed space and not made him the victim of our expectations...

elegantstroke said...

@Shridhar,
I completely agree with raj's assessment above.. the selectors kept faith in yuvi when he was continuously failing while Badri had to sit out. Agree - Dravid, Tendulkar and Laxman in a batting line up is hard to break..but when Yuvi was not performing well in Test cricket, Badri should have got the chance which he did not..I see no reason other than favoritism/politics.

Unknown said...

Raj, SP and Elegantstroke...

"The whole concept of picking test players on ODI and T20 form must go!"

I agree with this comment by Raj. But when you place yourself in the selectors' shoes, its not difficult to understand their thinking.

When one of the Fab 4 was injured / unavailable, they had the option of Yuvraj / Kaif or someone like Badri. There is no doubt that Badri was deserving of a chance to play Test cricket back then.

But the selectors gave chances to Yuvraj / Kaif on the grounds that they already had a bit of international exposure. And I don't think there is anything wrong with such a thinking if you are sure that the player concerned is suitable to Test cricket also and not just the LOI formats.

As a result, Yuvraj and Kaif were pushed ahead of Badri. It was unfortunate for Badri though. And to be fair to everyone, I will reiterate my previous point. It's not as if Yuvraj / Kaif / Raina have glowing Test records right now. Even when Yuvraj scored heavily in 2007, he was dropped immediately after 2 poor Tests in Australia because there was no way the Indian selectors could have axed the proven warriors like RSD, SRT, SCG and VVS.

It is like I read somewhere on someone's blog (I can't exactly recall which one) recently... India lost out on a generation of talented batsmen because of the brilliance of our Fab 4.

straight point said...

sri... this is where selector faulted big time when they toured bangladesh with virtually the same side filled with seniors to give their stats a fat massage...

here is the link if you are interested...

Unknown said...

You are right, SP! The Bangladesh tour team selection was a big mistake.

Not only did we not use the opportunity to try out the youngsters, but that tour also resulted in the injuries that hampered out team against South Africa immediately after that.

I am definitely with you there that the Bangladesh tours and even the tours like Zimbabwe 2005 were a chance to draft in youngsters. The only one who did not feature in Zimbabwe 2005 was SRT... otherwise, it was a full-strength squad there.

I concede that the points I have been trying to make do not apply to these tours. But then we have played 6 Tests in 6 years against these teams. For the rest of the part, I still hold the same argument as I have made in my previous comment.

Anil Singh said...

Actually, Yuvraj being dropped is good. But better timing could have been chosen.

As in the last test he played he scored.

straight point said...

i agree to that anil... yuvi should not have been selected for SL tour in first place... but its better late than never... :)

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