A confidence player

The first innings had all his dazzling talent on display and the second was cut short just before he could bring out all his wares. If that nick had not happened, we might just have seen the first ODI double hundred. It is when you're faced by the full blast of his amazing talent that after the first instinct to thank heavens for the presence of divinity, the next is to tear your hair out in frustration. And in this frustration, I'd reckoned that nothing had really changed. I knew two years ago that Yuvraj Singh was one of the top 3 ODI batsmen in the world. I was confident then that by the end of 2008, he'd be averaging 4o plus, having played in 45 Tests. In Jan 2008, I knew that would not happen. Maybe next year.

Then I get an SMS.

"Write bitch", it said. "Dont fuckin wait for Sreesanth to bowl an outswinger at some drunk Malayali on Kovalam beach."

And then,

"If you have a conscience.."

And then the former CoS made a comment. And the current CoS had a rejoinder.

Yuvi is a confidence player says the CoS, someone who needs a "couple of good knocks in his belt". Two knocks, one high on fast food entertainment, and another high on "focus" have propelled him to the position of frontrunner to replace Ganguly in the Test lineup. So what about the first hundred? That came on the back of persistent Test failure and a bad run in the Sri Lanka ODIs and some average Ranji knocks. He did not need any under the belt for that, did he? So he is more than just a confidence player. He is also someone who can hit his way out of form. But can he graft his way out of bad form? If not, it means that he is susceptible to the extended run of very low scores, without the 150 ball thirty-nines that can save his spot in the Test team.

But the thing is..

The thing is that England is a good team to mark his Test comeback. They have good pacers who will test him even on placid tracks. Their lone spinner is not too far up the global spinner incompetence order that it won't be a huge challenge for him.

The opportunity to make a point is well within his grasp.