Yuvraj Singh enjoys being in the thick of action, so competitive juices are flowing in anticipation of the forthcoming home series against the West Indies. The India all-rounder expressed his appreciation of the team's fielding ability. “Indian teams have been a great fielding side since 2003. Guys like (Suresh) Raina, Rohit (Sharma), and Virat (Kohli) are extremely talented fielders. I'm sure the old horse (referring to himself) is also capable of saving a few runs.”
Suresh Raina and Rohit Sharma do not figure in the Test series against the West Indies, but with Kohli and uncapped youngsters like Ajinkya Rahane, India will not be short of fielding options.
Yuvraj was talking on the lines of an event by Puma, which named him as brand ambassador. “I had a long time off the field and am recovering now. For the last 10-15 days I have been pushing really hard.” He is back in the Test squad after a three-month break.
With VVS Laxman, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and Kohli in the middle-order, Yuvraj will have to fight for his place in the squad. “I'm sure the more we play, the better we become. It is unfortunate, every time I have done well, I got injured. It is part of life and you have got to move on.”
Clear priorities
Yuvraj is clear about his priorities. “I want to be a good Test cricketer. I have done decently well, but am looking to improve my graph all the time.” He averages 35.60 after 1709 runs in 35 Test appearances for India, while scoring 62 in his last Test match for India against England. He has taken 31 catches and nine wickets.
He sounded positive of teammate Harbhajan Singh making a comeback and liked leg-spinner Rahul Sharma's temperament. The India all-rounder said, “If you are the best, no one can stop you. Harbhajan is a great bowler; he has got 400 wickets and played almost 100 Tests.”
Sharma played under Yuvraj's captaincy for Pune Warriors in IPL 2011. “Whenever I have given him the ball, he got wickets and was economical. If you have the best talent you should play them, irrespective of how much domestic cricket they may have played,” he said.
