Duleep final today, where’s Yuvraj?

Fit to shoot for commercials. ‘‘Unfit’’ to play the Duleep Trophy final. That, in a nutshell, is the current status of Y...

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Fit to shoot for commercials. ‘‘Unfit’’ to play the Duleep Trophy final. That, in a nutshell, is the current status of Yuvraj Singh — one that has irked officials in the BCCI and has led to informal demands being raised for the player to be disciplined.

The cavalier left-handed all-rounder was due to play in the Duleep final, beginning at Mohali tomorrow. However, his name was not on the team list circulated today and sources at the PCA clubhouse, where the North Zone team is staying, said he wasn’t there. This was later confirmed by Sushil Sharma, the team’s local manager.

National selector from West Zone Kiran More said he was not aware of the development about Yuvraj. ‘‘He’s playing tomorrow,’’ he said over the phone. When informed of reports of Yuvraj’s absence, he added, ‘‘I have no idea about the player’s present status.’’

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Following his return from Australia, Yuvraj represented North Zone in only one match of the Duleep Trophy (against Central, Feb 21-24). He then complained of a ‘‘sore shoulder’’ but was asked by a national selector to attend the subsequent match, against West Zone (Feb 27-Mar 1) at Dharamshala. He didn’t, however, going instead to Mumbai. And his absence is believed to have prompted selectors — when meeting on Monday to choose the team for Pakistan — to question his fitness. However, he was included in the team, the expectation being that he would recover and play at Mohali.

But Yuvraj has spent the last few days in Mumbai, shooting a commercial related to the Pakistan series and partying in the company of a Bollywood actress.

Interestingly, his injury was not referred to the BCCI sports medicine expert Dr Anant Joshi here. ‘‘I have not seen Yuvraj Singh,’’ Joshi told this paper today, adding, ‘‘the cases of Ajit Agarkar, Zaheer Khan and Mohd Kaif were referred to me and I have submitted my report on all three to the Board.’’

Repeated attempts to contact both Yuvraj Singh and BCCI secretary S K Nair proved futile. While board officials contacted chose to steer clear of the episode, one said: ‘‘It’s time the players are pulled up for skipping domestic matches.’’