Is there a way back for Yuvraj Singh?

A new day, but another failure. The comeback road, as Yuvraj Singh is finding out, isn’t that easy after all.
Dropped from the one-day international side for the tour of New Zealand, beginning 19 January, after a sting of low scores, Punjab’s Ranji Trophy quarter-final tie against Jammu and Kashmir at Baroda was a good chance for Yuvraj to come up with a strong showing. But that was not to be as his indifferent form continued. Watched by Central Zone selector Rajinder Singh Hans, the left-handed batsman was dismissed for 10 during an uneasy 19-ball stay at the crease on Wednesday.
In his earlier three appearances for Punjab this season, Yuvraj managed scores of 33, 40, 0, 4 and 39 for an overall average of 23.20. This latest failure only seems to have compounded the problems for a batsman who had created more than just a splash upon his comeback in the Indian side in October with a match-winning unbeaten 77 off only 35 balls in a T20 match against Australia at Rajkot.
So what seems to be the problem for Yuvraj, the Man-of-the-Series during India’s 2011 World Cup campaign? Former India opener Akash Chopra says, “While there are some grey areas for Yuvraj at the international level, it is really difficult to explain his inability to score runs at the domestic level. There aren’t too many bowlers who can trouble a batsman of Yuvraj’s class on a consistent basis.”
Tamil Nadu coach WV Raman explained how the mind can play tricks with experienced campaigners like Yuvraj. “Beyond a certain stage, it’s all in the mind. Sometimes, when you have to play at a lesser level (in domestic cricket) than what you have been playing for a long time, it’s difficult to motivate yourself. You don’t find the bowlers challenging enough. As a result, the best performance is not always forthcoming,” he says over the phone.
Post the high of his Man-of-the-Match showing at Rajkot, it has been downhill for Yuvraj. First, Mitchell Johnson and Co. ruthlessly exposed his weakness against the short ball in the ODI series against Australia (19 runs from six games at an average of 4.75). While the three-match ODI series against West Indies saw him return to a semblance of form (99 runs from three games, including a half-century, at an average of 49.50), Sunil Narine exposed his weakness against spin.
More misery was in store for him in the short ODI series in South Africa last month. The southpaw was dismissed for a second-ball duck in the first ODI at Johannesburg. Having missed the second ODI at Durban due to back spasms, he did not get a chance to bat in the third ODI at Centurion after thunderstorms brought a premature close to the game.
With the 2015 World Cup just a year away, the consensus is on building a young Indian side in the 50-over format. Chopra feels all is not lost for the 293-ODI veteran yet. “Yuvraj is a match-winner on any given day. When in form, he can change the fortunes of the game in a space of a few overs as we saw during that innings at Rajkot. So he still has a lot to offer to the Indian side. The IPL (Indian Premier League) is a perfect opportunity for him to make a comeback in the team. We have seen how players like Johnson have successfully come back into international cricket via the IPL,” he says.
Yuvraj’s record in this tournament isn’t inspiring either. In 70 IPL appearances, the southpaw has managed to score 1475 runs at a strike-rate of 130.76, which is well below his T20 international strike rate of 153.08. He has only five IPL fifties, whereas in 34 T20 internationals, Yuvraj has already scored seven half-centuries.
“Yuvraj has no other option but to perform well in the IPL to make a comeback in the ODI side,” says Chopra. “The selectors and team-management will not want to tinker with the side three or four months before a big tournament like the World Cup. I feel the IPL will be his last chance.”