Ignoring Yuvraj Singh completely will be a huge mistake, warns Saba Karim

Left-handed batsman Yuvraj Singh is slowly approaching a dead end in his illustrious career. After being excluded from the limited overs games in Sri Lanka, the senior cricketer was hit with another major blow as the BCCI revealed the Indian squad for the first three ODIs against Australia. Leaving out Yuvraj from the squad that will take on the mighty Aussies was not much of a surprise considering his current form and fitness.

It should be brought into notice that the hefty fitness standards raised by the board for Virat Kohli and his men saw Yuvraj Singh fail the yo-yo Test last month which gives us a hint of age taking a toll on the veteran. While pundits and legends of the game are predicting the end of the road for the Punjab-born cricketer, former wicketkeeper Saba Karim thinks otherwise.

In an interview with CricketNext, Saba Karim warned the selectors that ignoring the left handed power hotter completely will be a huge mistake which the selectors have committed previously. Karim took us back to last year when Yuvraj made a stormy comeback to the national side after being written off by the selectors.

What Karim said:

“Discount Yuvraj at your own peril. He is like a phoenix who has time and again shown that he loves rising from the ashes and proving critics wrong. From past experience, I would think it is too early to say that the writing is on the wall. Yes, he has a few issues he needs to work on, but then, he is a champion performer and has time and again proved that.” Karim said

“In fact, to be honest, we during our time as national selectors did for a short span think that it would be very difficult for Yuvraj to make it back to the national team. But I am equally happy to say that he proved us wrong and showed exemplary work ethics to make a return to the national team,” he added.

Agreeing to the fact that the immense fielding standards set by head coach Ravi Shastri and skipper Virat Kohli will be a tough hurdle for Yuvraj, Karim said “Yes, Yuvi need to go back to the drawing board and plan accordingly. He does need to work on his fitness and play domestic games to keep reminding the selectors that he is keen to make it back to the national team. The road is definitely not easy and trust me, nobody knows that better than the man himself,”.

Saba Karim believes that the performances of the younger lads will not bother Yuvraj. According to Karim, Yuvraj will tend to prefer on his game and writing his own comeback script.

“I do not think he will be looking much into how the current group is doing. It doesn’t help to think much about those already out there. I am sure Yuvraj would be more interested in working on his game and waiting for the opportune moment when he gets his turn and would wish to make the most of it.” he added.

“You cannot say A fits the bill or B fits the bill on a permanent basis. It all changes from situation to situation and you never know when the team management feels that the experience of someone like Yuvraj would suit the bill perfectly. Surely too early to say that the writing is on the wall,” he concluded.