Young Yuveraj Singh monopolises passion and attention

By G. Viswanath

SHARJAH, OCT. 19. It happened - a momentous episode in Indian cricket - long ago, down memory lane, taking one back late into the 80s welcoming the 90s. It was a point of time when the then chairman of the national selection committee, Raj Singh Dungarpur, pledged to bestow and embellish Indian cricket a young bunch of cricketers who will be the stars of the 90s or the immediate future.

What the venerable Raj Singh, even now engaged hands- on on the question of who should be the national team's first foreign coach, was playing a proactive role and pitching in for the selection of Sachin Tendulkar. He emerged from a selection committee meeting in Mumbai, fire and brimstone, to announce the

selection of Tendulkar. ``It went like a shot,'' said Raj Singh in a triumphant manner and in his typically exuberant mood.

Indian cricket, and in particular, the cricketing fraternity in Mumbai had been rather impatient; Tendulkar was not blooded in the away tour of the West Indies. The darling of Mumbai's maidans went to Pakistan, once continued to bat with a bloody nose and thereafter scored his first century with a back foot drive at Old Trafford. Tendulkar had arrived. He became a batting maestro and now after giving enjoyment to millions in the world, is deemed a legend.

More than a decade later, Indian cricket was in a like scenario with regard to the selection of Yuveraj Singh, the new kid on the block from the Punjab plains raring to take on international cricket in a rage, reflecting passion and bringing elements of power and style.

Selectors determined

Raj Singh introduced Tendulkar to the big league with a sense of timing. For him it was easy to convince the then captain, Krishnamachari Srikkanth about the selection of Tendulkar. But in Yuveraj's case it was quite the opposite. The selectors were resolute and persistent that Yuveraj should be picked. On the other side the captain and coach pleaded for Karnataka's Vijay Bharadwaj, whose off-spinning talents in addition to his batting skills, won him the Man of the Series award in the four-national LG Cup, the previous year at Nairobi.

The two sides were not ready to give in, the arguements and counters went on for one hour at the meeting in Chennai, a tug-of-war like situation prevailed according to insiders. Finally, the selectors put their foot down and matters to rest including Yuveraj in the fourteen-member squad for the ICC Knock- out in Nairobi.

There was so much hype and hoopla associated with Tendulkar's selection; there was nothing of this sort in Yuveraj's case. But having picked him in the 23 probables for the training camp in Chennai, the selectors were quite determined to give the 19-year old the first taste of international cricket.

At least, from the point of view of the selectors, Yuveraj's selection was not akin to a long shot. And also to many who had seen him in Mumbai, hitting the ball from the centre pitch at the Elf-Vengsarkar Cricket Academy to the island spot in front of Eros cinema house. Yuveraj had built a reputation for himself for hitting sixes. Those who saw him at the Oval by the side of Rajabhai Towers, Mumbai, were spontaneous in their acknowledgement for the teenager.

He was hitting the ball hard and long; this brought back memories of the late 80s when Mumbai's own Tendulkar was smashing school and club bowlers all over the park. The cricket `diwane' who were a witness to one of the greatest ever Ranji Trophy final, when Tendulkar hit Kapil Dev for a parallel six over long off, were willing to discuss Yuveraj in the same breath as Tendulkar.

Yuveraj turned out to be a big hit at Nairobi, on several counts. He batted, not like a showman, but in a fashion that gained approval from even the purists. What stood out once was a clipped shot played over mid wicket in side-on position against Australia. He fielded, showing alacrity between square of the wicket and cover and taking brilliant catches.

In the four matches he played, Yuveraj made an impression that he was in the making of a complete cricketer, who has won his spurs in limited-overs cricket and ready to prove his mettle in the traditional Test matches. He might have already reserved his slot for the first Test against Bangladesh at Dhaka in mid-November.

It has taken close to eleven years for Indian cricket to find a highly talented batsman. Tendulkar, first made his mark in Test cricket and against the likes of Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis. Yuveraj took the mite of Glenn McGrath in his pomp and Brett Lee, who is reckoned by many as the fastest bowler in the world. Yuveraj has come here for the Tri-series, a confident young man and as the shooting star of Indian cricket. The Indian expatriates are just as keen as any one to see him in the first match of the Coca-Cola Trophy against Sri Lanka. Needless to say, Yuveraj has become a veritable USP of the tournament.

Yuveraj is a batsman and hence has been the reason behind stirring interest and excitement among the fans here; the other young man, Zaheer Khan is a practitioner of the art of left-arm fast and seam bowling. He must have already found out how cruel can be the cricketing world, inclined to favour the batsman and not the bowler.

But at a time when match-fixing scandals are still talked about in Pakistan before the series against England, Indian cricket should be happy that the two new players have to a great degree, proved to be linchpins in some what changing the vitiated atmosphere at home. Surely, the fans will flock to the Kotla when India plays Zimbabwe in the first Test in November.

Sourav Ganguly's team tripped in the last hurdle at Nairobi, losing to Chris Cairns's individual push and calculated effort. India's coach Aunshuman Gaekwad was clear in his thoughts on Thursday morning on the composition of the team that will take

the field against Sri Lanka.

``I think we will stick to the same XI,'' he said, not really forthcoming on left-arm spinner Sunil Joshi getting a match. Obviously, Gaekwad would not want to disturb the batting line-up, at least for the first match. On Friday morning, they will decide on whether to give a chance to Hemang Badani or Sridharan Sriram.

lThe teams (from):

India: Sourav Ganguly (Captain), Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Yuveraj Singh, Vinod Kambli, Robin Singh, Vijay Dahiya (wicket- keeper), Anil Kumble, Ajit Agarkar, Venkatesh Prasad, Zaheer Khan, Hemang Badani, Sridharan Sriram and Sunil Joshi.

Sri Lanka: Sanath Jayasuriya (Captain), Avishka Gunawardane, Marvan Atapattu, Mahela Jayawardena, Kumar Sangakkara, Russel Arnold, Upul Chandana, Chaminda Vaas, Nuwan Zoysa, Muttiah Muralitharan, Rumesh Kaluwitharana, Erik Upashanta, Kaushaliya Weeraratne and Dilshan Tillekaratne.

Umpires: Messrs Steve Dunne (New Zealand) and George Sharpe (England). Third umpire: Daryl Harper (Australia). Match Referee: Denis Lindsay (South Africa).

Hours of play (IST): 4.00 to 7.30 p.m. and 8.15 to 11.45 p.m.

Prize money: Winner: US $ 50,000; Runner-up: US $ 30,000; third placed: US $ 20,000.

Man of the match (preliminary round): US $ 1,000; Man of the match (final): US $ 1,500; Man of the Series: US $ 3,500; Fastest 50, best bowler and best fielder: US $ 1,000 each.

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