Yuvraj Singh in his column in The Times Of India writes that he is absolutely delighted to be back home and that it had been a tough time for him for the past few months. “But all's well that ends well and I am really looking forward to spend some quality time at home which includes catching up with friends and having some home food,” writes Yuvraj, adding that coming back to the game, he would like to sit on his couch and watch the next few weeks of IPL.
“I am really happy with the way things have started for Team Pune. They have played some good cricket, maintained discipline and did very well to win the pressure moments of the match,” says Yuvi.
“Team Delhi against Team Chennai is one of the show-stoppers. Delhi are playing at home and have some strong reinforcements. Men in form Kevin Pietersen and Mahela Jayawardene should make a huge difference. Jayawardene can be an ideal partner for the dashing Sehwag and once David Warner joins them, this batting unit is as good as it can get. Peter Bhaiya (as I fondly call KP) is carrying on his great form from Sri Lanka. But he is little wary of yours truly 'Pie Chucker'. CSK bowlers can try some Pies to get rid of him,” writes Yuvraj in TOI.
Meanwhile according to a report in The Indian Express, despite the knowledge that he had developed a serious health problem, winning the World Cup was at the top of Yuvraj Singh's priority list around the time the mega-event was on, said his father Yograj Singh.
"I salute the fighter, the soldier Yuvraj Singh. Today, I am a proud father. Before last year's World Cup, he told me that 'dad, winning the Cup is very important'. He told me that whatever happens to him won't matter, but 'if we win the Cup, it will be a great achievement, which will make the whole country proud'," an emotional Yograj said.
According to a report in DNA, Sachin Tendulkar hinted on Monday that he would need some more time to recover from his finger injury that he sustained against title-holders Chennai Super Kings during the inaugural match of the fifth season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Tendulkar took to micro-blogging site Twitter to report that the injured finger is “not looking good”.
The batting maestro retired hurt after he was injured by a short-pitched delivery from Super Kings’ Australian import Doug Bollinger. “Finger still not looking good. Had to aspirate blood from my finger twice in 4 days,” Tendulkar tweeted. He also posted a picture of his injured finger.
Adam Gilchrist, meanwhile, attributed Kings XI Punjab loss to PWI to 10 minutes of madness at the end of his team's bowling (left-arm spinner Bipul Sharma and Harmeet Singh conceding 27 runs in the 19th over) and 10 minutes of madness at the start of the KXIP innings (run outs of Paul Valthaty and Gilchrist), says a report in The Hindu.
“There's no doubt that the big finish (conceding 35 runs in the last two overs) made a big difference. It slipped out of his hands, nothing intentional (about Harmeet being punished for sending two beamers in the 19th and replaced by Sharma). I made a bad call and Paul was out. Yes 20 minutes of bad cricket cost us the game,'' said Gilchrist.