For the Indian team management, he is still very much in the scheme of things.
On his part, Yuvraj Singh backs himself to make the national team and serve with the same passion and flair that he had shown at Nairobi in 2000 where his international career began. “You will always find me batting this way,” he had told this writer after that innings of 84 against Australia in his debut series, on a challenging pitch against an attack comprising Glenn McGrath, Brett Lee and Jason Gillespie.
In over 15 years, Yuvraj has indeed not compromised his batting style.
He spoke to The Hindu about the Ranji Trophy season and his prospects for the coming year.
How would you sum up your 2016?
It has been a mixed sort of year. I started 2016 on a good note by getting back into the Indian T20 side, but got injured at a very crucial juncture during the World T20 game against Australia at Mohali. I had to miss a few IPL games as well. But, then, we (Hyderabad Sunrisers) had a great season and won the tournament. After that, I got back to domestic cricket and scored some runs to stake my claim.
The year ended with my getting married. It was a year that made me a better cricketer because I was able to make a realistic assessment of my game. I discovered that my passion had not ebbed a bit.
After 16 years of international cricket, how tough is it to go back to the basics and play domestic cricket?
It is very tough, and one has to be extremely motivated to do this. It is like starting all over again. It brought back memories of my early days in competitive cricket.
But if you have the desire to excel and the willingness to do anything to make a comeback, then that’s how you are going to do it. I still feel I have few more years of cricket left in me, and I will do all it takes to get back into the side and win games.
And you did quite well by getting big scores...
Yes, before taking a break for my wedding, I had a very good run and got close to 700 runs in five matches. So that’s very satisfying. My job is to get on the ground and get runs. I loved my knock at Lahli (against Madhya Pradesh) where I made runs on a challenging pitch.
I was hit all over but the runs I made could not have been more precious. It told me that there was nothing wrong with my cricket.
