I know people are calling for Yuvy to be axed from the Indian test side but I have a very contrasting opinion on this. We all know Yuvy is a player with infinite ability. But for some reason that talent has never been translated into consistent performances in test cricket. Axing him is not the solution because Indian cricket needs him, even at test level. Instead, they should try something different with him, change his batting position.
Actually, if you think about it, there are a lot of similarities between Ricky Ponting and Yuvraj Singh:
1. Ricky Ponting, in his early twenties was known to have tremendous potential. But he was brash, arrogant, considered a party animal and got involved in a lot of off-the-field controversies. Ditto with Yuvy.
2. In the first half of his test career, Ponting could never bat in the top 4 due to big shots like the Waugh brothers forming core of the middle order. Batting at no. 6 then, it would be fair to say he did not get too many chances to fully showcase his talent, to score big hundreds. Same has been the case with Yuvy. Due to fab 4, he has never got consistent opportunities in test cricket and whenever he has, he has had to bat at 6.
3. Ponting, as a youngster was a tremendous fielder. He was Australia's answer to Jonty Rhodes and Herschelle Gibbs. Again, ditto with Yuvraj.
4. Ponting is considered weak against spin, he has a dismal record in the subcontinents, records say he is bhajji's bunny. Bhajji says he can get ponting out in 6 balls. Yuvy too is a dead duck against quality spin. Records and Murali both say and prove that.
Till about the year 2003, Ponting was just another good player, there was nothing "great" about him. But then, something struct someone and they decided to entrust Ponting with some responsibilities. The first of those responsibilities was batting at 3 (the second ofcourse was captaincy). With that responsibility, Ponting turned out to be a different player altogether. With Hayden, Langer and Ponting as their top 3, Australia could play at their agressive best scoring at over 4 an over from day 1 of test matches and that definitely helped them win all those test matches in the last decade or so.
Thats why I say India should gamble with Yuvy at 3. He needs responsibility, the captain and selectors need to show faith in him, to get the best out of him. Also when batting at 3, Yuvy could well get a chance to face the new ball and so may not have to play spin first up. Having Sehwag, Gambhir and Yuvy as their top 3 would give India their best chance to score fast and win more test matches. Those 3 men could be India's answer to the Australian top order of the last decade. One may argue that Yuvy does not have the technique to play moving/seaming fast bowling, which is so important for a no. 3. But who would have thought that Sehwag with the kind of technique he had (and still has) would end up in emerging as India's best opening bat after Gavaskar, when he opened for the first time in England!
I think a major reason for Yuvy's lack of success in tests is that he is never sure whether to attack of defend. Sehwag and Yuvy have similar styles, both are extremely attacking. But unlike Yuvy, Sehawag gets to open the batting so does not have to think about playing according to the situation (well, not that he would have thought anyways). Sehwag "builds" the situation, he lays the platform and the other batters play accordingly depending on whether Sehwag has succeeded or not. I think Yuvy needs to be given a similar license. License to set up games, license to play his natural game. Then if he fails, have guys like Dravid at 6 to stem a collapse and play according to situation. Also, guys like Dravid and Sachin are not going to be in for long now. The other guys should now be given the lead, while these senior pro are still around to help, to set up games. It is time for transition, it is time to defy logic, it is time to get unconventional. Yuvy at No. 3 can help team India transit from a good side to a great side.
Actually, if you think about it, there are a lot of similarities between Ricky Ponting and Yuvraj Singh:
1. Ricky Ponting, in his early twenties was known to have tremendous potential. But he was brash, arrogant, considered a party animal and got involved in a lot of off-the-field controversies. Ditto with Yuvy.
2. In the first half of his test career, Ponting could never bat in the top 4 due to big shots like the Waugh brothers forming core of the middle order. Batting at no. 6 then, it would be fair to say he did not get too many chances to fully showcase his talent, to score big hundreds. Same has been the case with Yuvy. Due to fab 4, he has never got consistent opportunities in test cricket and whenever he has, he has had to bat at 6.
3. Ponting, as a youngster was a tremendous fielder. He was Australia's answer to Jonty Rhodes and Herschelle Gibbs. Again, ditto with Yuvraj.
4. Ponting is considered weak against spin, he has a dismal record in the subcontinents, records say he is bhajji's bunny. Bhajji says he can get ponting out in 6 balls. Yuvy too is a dead duck against quality spin. Records and Murali both say and prove that.
Till about the year 2003, Ponting was just another good player, there was nothing "great" about him. But then, something struct someone and they decided to entrust Ponting with some responsibilities. The first of those responsibilities was batting at 3 (the second ofcourse was captaincy). With that responsibility, Ponting turned out to be a different player altogether. With Hayden, Langer and Ponting as their top 3, Australia could play at their agressive best scoring at over 4 an over from day 1 of test matches and that definitely helped them win all those test matches in the last decade or so.
Thats why I say India should gamble with Yuvy at 3. He needs responsibility, the captain and selectors need to show faith in him, to get the best out of him. Also when batting at 3, Yuvy could well get a chance to face the new ball and so may not have to play spin first up. Having Sehwag, Gambhir and Yuvy as their top 3 would give India their best chance to score fast and win more test matches. Those 3 men could be India's answer to the Australian top order of the last decade. One may argue that Yuvy does not have the technique to play moving/seaming fast bowling, which is so important for a no. 3. But who would have thought that Sehwag with the kind of technique he had (and still has) would end up in emerging as India's best opening bat after Gavaskar, when he opened for the first time in England!
I think a major reason for Yuvy's lack of success in tests is that he is never sure whether to attack of defend. Sehwag and Yuvy have similar styles, both are extremely attacking. But unlike Yuvy, Sehawag gets to open the batting so does not have to think about playing according to the situation (well, not that he would have thought anyways). Sehwag "builds" the situation, he lays the platform and the other batters play accordingly depending on whether Sehwag has succeeded or not. I think Yuvy needs to be given a similar license. License to set up games, license to play his natural game. Then if he fails, have guys like Dravid at 6 to stem a collapse and play according to situation. Also, guys like Dravid and Sachin are not going to be in for long now. The other guys should now be given the lead, while these senior pro are still around to help, to set up games. It is time for transition, it is time to defy logic, it is time to get unconventional. Yuvy at No. 3 can help team India transit from a good side to a great side.
3 comments:
I don’t really agree with you here. UV has to be in the side. But he we need a Dravid at number 3 right now for the balance of our side.
For me, people are reading too much into UVs failures. We should not forget that UV won us the series against England. He has never really got a consistent run at test level. Let's give him 3 test series atleast and then put our judgmental hats on.
I feel that its only matter of time before he starts performing consistently at this level.
we surely need dravid, no doubt. but not at 3. dravid's role should now be more of a man to fall back on if things go wrong. guys like yuvy need to learn to set up games, and you cannot set up a platform by batting at 6. Soon what is going to happen is dravid and sach are going to retire and we're going to have a big hole at 3 and 4. The sooner we start thinking about it, the better.
Hi mandar, I agree with the points 1,3 in your post regd fielding & parties, controversies stuff. But I have a different opinion regarding other issues you talked about; I think the comparision between Ponting & Yuvi is unfair to say the least. Coming to point 2, we can say that waugh brothers never ever formed a core of the middle order; Mark was always opening and Steve was No. 7 batsman.. so no case that ponting's growth up the order was stunted by waugh's. After the 4 points you started the discussion stating that Ponting has been another good player. But, Ponting even before 2003 scored 19 centuries & 16 fifties in the time period from 95-96 to 02-03, compared to Yuvi's career tally of 3 centuries & 6 fifties from 03-09. Ponting infact, has scored 5 hundereds in 2002 alone. Its possible to argue that Yuvi hasn't played all the tests in that period, but I'm pretty sure that if he matched the first half career of Pontings' no one would've dared to deny him a place in the 11. He has been given enough opportunities then too, but he couldn't stand the competition. His career average 35.44 till date is not comparable with 56.2 of Pontings'. I never thought that Yuvi doesn't deserve a place in the test11, I believe he should be there but I dont think he should be the No. 3; Responsibility of No. 3 can be given only when signs or reliability is shown and is backed with performances, not just talent alone. Eg: consider No.3 of Aus-Ponting; SL-Sangakkara; WI-Sarwan; Pak-YounisKhan; and ofcourse Ind-Dravid; All proven performers. No. 3 is not a place in my opinion to Gamble with. Also, it can't be said being at No.6 can't provide platform to set a platform or to perform; lot of performers like Gilly, Steve Waugh, Lakshman and Ganguly, Flintoff, and many others proved its not a hindrance. I would say let him perform and as days go by, move up the order...
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