He has been India’s consistent match winner
since 2000. The moment he crosses the half century mark or takes wickets off
his slow left-arm spinners India’s
win gets almost ensured. He has won many a battle for his country. And, when
recently he fought the biggest battle of his life his country gave him full
support to win it with flying colors.
Who could forget his incredible
partnership that won India
the NatWest Series Final against England
in England
in 2002? Who could ever rub off the electric memory of watching him hitting six huge sixes in one over by Stuart Broad in a match of the T20 World Cup in 2007?
Who could pass over his contribution to India winning the ICC World
Cup-2011 where he became the player of the tournament scoring 362 runs and
taking 15 wickets?
Following that historic World Cup triumph
he faced the biggest challenge of his life. After a long drawn and agonizing
bout of confusion and wrong reports he finally confronted the truth—lung cancer. He was diagnosed with a rare form
of germ cell cancer. He took up the fight against cancer undergoing strenuous
sessions of chemotherapy in a hospital in the US, recuperation sessions and a
long-term rehabilitation program coming back home. All the time he promised
himself to get cured completely and to get to play for India again.
Yuvraj Singh has indeed won the biggest battle too, and today the southpaw has returned to Team India for the ICC Twenty20 World Cup cricket that
starts in Sri Lanka
from September 18, 2012.
The Selection Committee of the Board of
Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had a meeting today in Mumbai and included Yuvraj
Singh in the Indian squad of 15 players. After he took part in a training camp
for over one month and was declared medically fit by a cricket academy his
selection had been widely speculated. The decision was not without a few
hiccups though with two members expressing doubt on his ability as he had not
played competitive cricket for over nine months. But finally the winner had to
be voted in. This definitely is a boost for Team India
already on a high after winning the Micromax Cup-2012 in Sri Lanka in
this month only.
His fans all over are eager to see him
play again and win again and again for his team and his country!
Along with Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh
makes a comeback too after one year maybe to add experience to the spin
department and pacer Balaji known for his swing comes back after three years
perhaps for his effective swing bowling in IPL-5. Manoj Tiwary has also been included
for his all-round performance in Sri Lanka.
The BCCI has also declared the Indian team
for the forthcoming series against New Zealand at home. The biggest
surprise being the selection of spinner Piyush Chawla in both Test and T20
squad, because Chawla had done precious little in recent timed except for
continuing to be Indian skipper Dhoni’s favorite like Rohit Sharma who still
could not make it to the Test team. Veteran VVS Laxman was selected for the
Test team despite his poor run in the Test series in England
and Australia
last year. Maybe his treasure house experience and Indian conditions were the
top priorities. Sachin Tendulkar is also going to play for the country in the
home series. Selection of promising players like Ajikya Rahane and Cheteshwar
Pujara in the Test squad is good news too, but their inclusion in the playing
eleven is doubtful as ever. Therefore the moot point of the selection was that
in spite of the utter disasters abroad Team India still remains almost the
same.
