Yuvraj Singh seems to be tired of press conferences. In his stint as captain of Kings XI Punjab, the left-hander has addressed the media 16 times and except for those two occasions when he had to speak on the issue involving Harbhajan Singh and later when he was booed at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, the rest of his Q&A sessions have, at best, been repetitions of what he’s said time and again.Picture this: Will you prefer to bat first or bowl first tomorrow? Yuvraj’s answer: “I might bat or I might even bowl.” How much of a difference has Shaun Marsh made to the team’s batting? “A lot.” What are your thoughts on Chennai Super Kings as opponents? “They’re a good side, it’ll be a good contest.”If you think mundane questions deserve mundane answers, Yuvraj does just that, but ahead of an encounter as crucial as the semi-final of the Indian Premier League (IPL), or any match for that matter in which he’s led Punjab until now, reading Yuvraj’s mind seems to be quite a complicated task.On the field though, there are no complications. Yuvraj’s tea m mates — the likes of Sreesanth, Irfan Pathan, Piyush Chawla and VRV Singh among others — have perfectly blended with the demands of their skipper. True to his image, Yuvraj has never bothered his team with duty charts, computer-based learning or elaborate and frequent team meetings. Instead, he’s given his boys plenty of freedom to prepare by themselves. At best, his advice has been “when you’re on the field, I want your 100 per cent.” In fact, after Sreesanth got involved in the controversy involving Harbhajan, Yuvi’s solution to keep the Kerala bowler’s mind on the game was simple. “You just forget this and concentrate on your game. I’ll take care,” he’s said to have told Sreesanth. Chawla, the team’s leg-spinner, says, “He’s very cool, not at all a control freak and yet on the field, he demands a lot of aggression.”This is precisely why the Kings XI Punjab have delivered such all-round performances. To top it, they’ve been blessed to have Shaun Marsh, the son of former Australian opener Geoff and the youngster’s lowest score in 10 IPL matches is still an impressive 39. Marsh is averaging a phenomenal 74.12 in the tournament and to watch him face the new ball with absolutely no apprehensions, has been a healthy sign for Mohali. Yuvraj may not be saying much in words, but there’s no denying that the skipper will keep his fingers crossed, hoping Marsh carries on in the same vein.Two out of twoHowever, there’s a twist to the story. Chennai Super Kings are the only team who have beaten Kings XI Punjab in both their league matches. Though Punjab suffered their first defeat mainly due to the brutal century that Michael Hussey scored, it seems to be playing on the minds of both teams. “We are aware of that,” is another mundane answer from Yuvraj.As captain, he may have nothing to say to the outsiders. But in his own camp, one can be rest assured he’s giving these statistics a very serious thought.The opponents, Chennai Super Kings, sent their coach Kepler Wessels to deal with the media while skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni decided to leave as early as possible with his team for a nets session. Dhoni sure knows his India team mate well and will keep in mind that there’s no escaping from the truth now that Chennai’s biggest test is on Saturday. Against Hyderabad, they won after having to rely on calculators in the race to the semi-finals. Here, against Yuvraj’s team in raging form, they won’t have any such chances again.
