Yuvraj Singh, despite being the talented player that he is, hasn't done justice to his Test career, say experts who have watched him closely. According to a report in the Times Of India, 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,” says the report, adding that 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 all-rounders, 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."
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.”
Meanwhile a report in The Hindu says that Yuvraj Singh’s flamboyance in cricket and his fight against cancer came into focus at a book launch on the all-rounder. Dilip Vengsarkar and Kapil Dev, both achievers with their own identity in the game, were invited to offer insights on the left-hander. The occasion was the launch of ‘Yuvi’ penned by Makarand Waingankar and published by Harper Sport.
Vengsarkar described him as an extremely talented and focussed youngster.
“Following a phone call from father Yograj Singh wanting to send his son to my academy (Vengsarkar Cricket Academy), he came to Mumbai,” said Vengsarkar. “Yuvraj was a clean-hitter even then, able to clear the boundary by a long way.”
He felt Yuvraj should be playing a lot more Test cricket. “When I became a selector, I ensured that he got the opportunity to show his batting ability in Tests and was happy to see him score 169 against Pakistan (third Test at Bangalore in 2007-2008 series),” said Vengsarkar, remembering attending Yuvraj’s first birthday celebrations at Chandigarh.
According to a report in The Indian Express, Kapil Dev said Yuvraj Singh, who played his first Test since recovering from a rare germ cell cancer in Ahemedabad, needs to be more focussed to establish himself in the longer format of the game.
"I hope he plays well in Test cricket, which is his passion. In one-dayers and Twenty20, there is no better stroke player in the world like him. But he needs to establish himself in Test cricket. He needs to focus better," said Kapil at the launch of the book 'Yuvi', penned by senior journalist and columnist Makarand Waingankar, here.
Former chief national selector Dilip Vengsarkar, at whose academy Yuvraj played in his initial days, rued that the left-handed batsman did not play enough Test matches.
"Over the years he didn't play many Test matches, which, I feel very bad about," Vengsarkar said.
