He’s been the big story on this tour, cricketwise. Yuvraj Singh’s continued failure has kept everyone interested and though the Indian team has refused to press the panic button yet, it has been forced to start thinking afresh. It was just a matter of one innings, just a matter of getting that feel. But the question was always the same: When?Today’s net session was slightly different with players who hadn’t had a long hit getting preference over others. And Yuvraj Singh was the centre of attraction. He started out in the same fashion, nicking the balls, missing many and appearing very tentative at the crease. Munaf Patel was still thundering in, and so was Irfan Pathan. Yuvraj managed to hit one cover drive from the meat of his bat to the left-arm seamer. “Great shot Yuvi, shabaash,” the compliments came from everywhere. Yuvraj suddenly felt good about that shot, and could get that feel. Weird it may seem by logic, but most cricketers will agree to that. Yuvraj batted for long and bowlers came hard at him as he negotiated them with his old-time touch—a punch on the back foot, that trademark pull-cum-glance on one leg, straight drive, and soon he was stepping out to the spinners and having a go at them. Everyone in the Indian team knew what was happening and Irfan, for once, didn’t bother getting smacked around. He was pleased to pitch it right up. Yuvraj was enjoying the session and so did everyone else at the nets. As the Indian vice-captain walked out of the nets, Irfan patted on his helmet and then grabbed him by his neck to tell him well played. Yuvraj, laughing, just uttered three words. “I am back.”On Sunday, all eyes will be yet again on Yuvraj, and there will be a definite degree of optimism—sometimes just three words can complete a long chapter.
