Yuvraj comes of age

Yuvraj Singh has finally arrived, and how. In the fifth and final one-dayer against Pakistan, India was in ‘uncertain territory’ at 141 for 2. The match could have gone either way if one or two more wickets went down. What was needed was someone to hold the fort while Dhoni displayed his fireworks and finish the match at the other end.

Yuvraj not only frustrated the bowlers’ efforts to make any further inroads into the Indian batting line-up but continued scoring at a brisk pace. Showing maturity which only comes when a batsman is in his early 30s — considered by experts as the peak period in a player’s career — Yuvraj guided India to one of it’s most emphatic victories in one-dayers. Yuvraj is amply endowed with talent, no two views about it. The missing link was consistency. In earlier series he used to get a big score in one match and then sink into oblivion in the rest. But the recently concluded ODI series against Pakistan, where he scored a century and two 50s and won the Player of the Series award, could well be the turning point in his career.

Not only did he aggregate the most runs in the one-day series — 344 — but he also shunned the tag of being an ‘inconsistent performer’ with knocks of 39, 82, 79, 37 and 107 in the series, which by any yardstick are sterling scores.

Now what is required of him is not to rest on his laurels but look forward to the upcoming home series against England and beyond and continue in the same fashion. Yuvraj’s performance in Pakistan has demolished the last doubt as to what he is capable of and with the World Cup just a year away he could well be the spearhead of India’s quest to win the title a second time — the last being in 1983.

With Sachin, Dravid and Laxman not having that many years left in the game, its up to youngsters like Yuvraj, Sehwag, Kaif, Pathan and Dhoni to assume the mantle of meeting the expectations in the period after. With his heroics against Pakistan, Yuvraj —who is arguably more talented than his peers — will be expected to do it. He has once again raised hopes, like he did on his debut against Australia at Nairobi (Kenya) in the Mini-World Cup — where he pummelled McGrath and Co. on way to a scintillating knock of 84 — of taking over from Tendulkar the crown of the next icon of Indian cricket. — R.S.

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