Sitting alone in the press box of the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium on the day of Deepawali last year, I was witnessing an innings from Yuvraj Singh which went a long way in helping him to revive his career. The left-handed batsman scored his first double century in first-class cricket, in front of the national selectors, which brought him to the radar of the selection committee.
After reaching the milestone, Yuvraj first heaved a sigh of relief and then lauded the handful of spectators present in the stands for their support. He also received a special applause from Sarandeep Singh – one of the selectors - who were watching him bat closely. Sarandeep even stood up from his chair and showed a thumbs up to Yuvi, in reply to which the batsman gestured by raising his tilted bat towards him in gratitude.
After reaching the mark, he shrugged off the fear and smashed two sixes on public demand, one of which went over the arena where selectors were seated. It was the innings which forced the selectors to call Yuvraj back in the ODI circuit after a period of three long years.
He made it to the squad for the limited overs series against England and retained his place for next seven months.
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After being bashed by India in the Test series by a margin of 4-0, England returned to the country again after Christmas break and played two practice games before the start of the international fixtures, so as to assimilate to the conditions in India.
The first ODI was played in Pune, where India were chasing a total of 351. Hosts were two down for 24 when Yuvraj came out to bat in an ODI after a period three years. After showing some early signs of being in-form, he departed and left the team upset. Despite his failure, team India managed to win as Virat Kohli and Kedar Jadhav struck century apiece to lead the side to an emphatic win.
Yuvi did not have an ideal comeback and was under pressure to perform, because of talented bench strength. Team India’s next destination was Cuttack, which will be remembered as one of the best games of the year.
After an utter failure from the top order again, team India found itself reeling on 25/3 when Yuvraj and MS Dhoni took Indian audience back to the good old days by sharing 256 runs for the fourth wicket, with Yuvraj himself contributing 150 with the bat. The partnership between the two was quite special and a joy to watch. It was after so many years when they were batting together in ODI cricket and with each run added to the scorecard, the memory of watching them bat together on past occasions was surfacing ahead. In short, it was a treat to watch them bat together in such a way and a win in the end marked a happy ending to the day.
Riding on his impressive show in the series, Yuvraj made it to the Indian team for the ICC Champions Trophy squad ahead of Suresh Raina, Rishabh Pant and Dinesh Karthik, who all were part of backup players for the tournament. Karthik was though later called in to replace an injured Manish Pandey.
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Yuvraj kicked off the tournament in a majestic way by plundering 53 runs in just 32 deliveries, to mark his arrival on the biggest stage. His innings helped India to stretch the score past 300, which proved to be a match winning total.
He marked a remarkable start the mini world cup but what followed was totally a story which he would like to rub off. The left-handed all-rounder could just manage to score 52 runs in three innings that followed, which includes a score of 22 in the final. All hopes were on Yuvraj to get the Indian team par the finishing line in the final after the wickets tumbled at an early stage but he failed again. India lost and failed to defend the trophy. Though whole batting line-up is to be blamed but was the most experienced player there of the team.
Despite his mixed show, he was given a place in the squad for the tour to Windies, where it was surprising to see him dancing to the tunes of fast bowlers. He was finding it difficult to stand straight in front of inexperienced pace bowling line-up and was moving with the swing, giving signs of ageing to the viewers. All he could manage was 57 runs in three innings before he was dropped from the side after suffering an injury.
Yuvraj is not at all the same player which he used to be earlier before his comeback in 2012. It is quite surprising to see a player of his class – who has smashed six sixes in an over of a fast bowler – to struggle against pacers, trying to make a contact with the bat and ball.
He is surely not the one whom selectors are looking as one of the candidates for a place in World Cup 2019 squad. Looking from this side of the television, it seems like he is blocking the place of youngsters like Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer, Sanju Samson and many other who have done well and are waiting for the vacant spot.
Yuvraj is the legend of the game, no doubts. He was the kingpin of Indian cricket team in 2007 T20 and 2011 50 over World Cup but as they say, nothing lasts forever. Yuvraj has now lost his old aura and charm which could now guarantee him a place in the national side. Someone like Subramaniam Badrinath, who was last part of the Indian team in 2012, has already accepted that he can't make a comeback and he has decided to skip the upcoming first-class season, so as to make way for youngsters.
He has set an example for others, which all should take into account while thinking about their future and that of the team. Rest, Yuvraj knows how to make comebacks better than anyone and if he decides, this comeback won’t be much difficult for him as well.