Yuvraj Singh: The love-hate relationship

The Man We Love, The Man We Hate, The Man We Call Yuvi

He was 18 when he played his first ODI match for India. His first half-century came in the next match, his second, where he hit a composed, yet aggressive knock of 84 against a ruthless Australian bowling attack. In the years that followed, he solidified his place in the playing XI, owing to his abilities to hit the ball hard, and tweak it too. More importantly, he inherited the most coveted fielding position in cricket (more famously occupied by Jonty Rhodes) – point.

Yuvi has earned few accolades at the international stage because of his inconsistency

He’s 28 today, and scored a frugal one run and conceded 6 in the last match he played in the national colours. The last 24 months have witnessed an apparent dip in his form and fitness, and the man who once announced his arrival to world cricket, is now being reduced to an also-ran in the cricketing fraternity. And, oh! he’s been shifted to mid-off.

For a talent that’s as rich as his, it’s a pity that Yuvraj Singh has lately become the face of everything that’s currently wrong with Indian cricket. Be it the batsmen’s inability to play the short delivery, poor fielding standards, or the significant and increasingly worrying relaxed and tardy approach of the young Indian team on the cusp of a world cup – the media has portrayed him as the prime example of each of these shortcomings. Not to deny that they are indeed a part of his playing career as it stands today, but to imagine that Yuvraj is being shown at the epitome of these vices is a dsiturbing thought.

My last piece was followed by a debate between me and an upcoming India-A cricketer. He disagreed with me – as I am sure a lot of my readers did- about the game-related reforms that I feel the young cricketers needed, his argument being that the youngsters did worry about their form, but could do very little to resolve the cultural differences that are an inherent part of the sport. Valid point. We did also agree upon the actuality that Indian cricket is facing an apparent dearth of matchwinners for the future. More so, alarmingly, their isn’t a scarcity because the young lads aren’t good enough – heavens know India will never run out of potential national spot claimers; it’s because the current players of the team are irreplaceable. The Dhonis and Yuvrajs and Bhajjis; all irreplaceable. As my India-A friend rightly said, the entire A batting line-up isn’t as good as Yuvraj Singh is.

Bad boy!

Yuvraj Singh. With more than 15,000 runs under his international belt, he’s the man India has so often relied on over his 10 year long career to accelerate the team to victory or high totals. And though he’s mostly succeeded – as he chased in the 2002 Natwest Series and quickfired the team to mountainous scores in the 2007 T20 WC-, his inconsistency is what has been the roadblock in his test career. He started off his test career with the same elan that he did his ODI career with, scoring a century off 110 balls in the absence of then-captain Sourav Ganguly, and took another two years to get to his next ton. In the 10 odd matches he played between that span, his batting in test matches remained ruefully mediocre, despite decent -if not brilliant- performances in the shorter format, having scored almost 5 centuries between 2004 & 2006. Knowing the personality he is, patience doesn’t come to him easily, and while that could well be the reason behind his mediocrity in the test arena, it’s worth gently reminding him that it even an agressive Sachin Tendulkar pulled off Chennai in 1999.

Yuvraj wanted to grow into a fast bowler like his father. Back injuries he suffered as early as 15 in his career meant he resorted to batting, accompanied by occasional unorthodox off-spin. While his bowling records probably do not show it, his real ability to tweak the ball is indeed valuable, and Yuvraj has been used as a bowler by his captains more often than one would imagine. Kevin Pietersen once called him a ‘pie-chucker’; Yuvraj retorted in his trademark style, by dismissing KP in the very next test match. Today, he’s the third-best all-rounder in the ICC’s ODI player rankings.

Yuvraj and Dhoni are great buddies!

Off the field, Yuvraj is quite the prince. Blackberries, BMWs, bungalows (I pluralized it because thats how it is); he’s all the works that a suave Indian cricketer is today. Admittedly, he lives up to his brand image. His charm and childlike allure makes him everyone’s favourite. Dislike him if you must, but you cannot possibly ignore Yuvraj Singh Bhundel. And knowing his lineage, it’s safe to say his lovable traits are in his blood. Born to a cricketer-actor father and national level basketballer mother, this savvy southpaw effortlessly is every other girl’s pin-up man. The indulgent upbringing had its disadvantages- as early in his career (2000), selectors almost unanimously wrote him off, because of his “attitude problems”. Not one to take it down, Yuvraj took it all in his stride like the true Jat he is, and has obviously made lemonade out of the sour lemons. ‘‘Tell people to believe in what they see, not what they hear about me,’’ Yuvraj has often said, nettled by the negative publicity he attracts off the field. Blame it on destiny; what else can one expect a boy born with a silver spoon in his mouth to possibly say?

Behind that cocky facade sit many emotions. When Yuvraj hit his first limited overs century for India — against Bangladesh, Dhaka, 2003 — whom did he dedicate it to? Not to his parents, not to his coach but to Amandeep Nat, his best friend who passed away in 1994. ‘‘I wish Aman were alive to see me,’’ he said that day. Watch him in the archives from the CNN-IBN show on him post the thirty sixer – you’ll see a doting elder brother in the man who butchered Stuart Broad -also his brother Zoraver’s age- all over the Durban park to create history and win an ICC accolade for it. Hear him talk about his father -you’ll hear him repenting the years they lost owing to his parents’ separation. Talk to him about his mother, and he’ll go on about her aloo parathas and kadhi chaawal. Reminsce his old fielding days, and he’ll tell you about his chop from the U-15 Ranji team because ‘he couldn’t field well’ being his motivator. Go through his facebook friends, and he’ll mimic each one of them for you. Play a song in the dressing room, and he’s already singing and dancing to it. Bring up his supposed rift with Dhoni, and he’ll tell you about how he’s “seen Mahi in a towel in the dressing room, so there’s nothing bitter between us’. Say Harbhajan Singh, and he’s off to get parathas for the two of them -albeit not before he’s grumbled about Bhajji’s appetite.

Hell Boy!

Despite all his flamboyance, there’s no denying that Yuvraj does, once in a while, need something of a big brother figure -someone to pat his shoulder and pull his ear, as and when required. Of course, it’s human to be imperfect, but going by how Yuvraj’s personal life affects his cricket, the knowing that there’s a Dhoni and Zaheer in the dressing room to keep him in check is somewhat a relief.

Yuvraj has over the past 10 years been in the spotlight and under the scanner for varying reasons: his arrival on the international scene, the Natwest histrionics, his test hundreds against Pakistan, the Durban thirty sixer, his back-to-back centuries against England in 2008, IPL captaincy, IPL controversies, his fatness and unfitness- and this is just on-field. When it isn’t about his cricket, everything else about him -from his high-profile link-ups and break-ups to pub brawls from recently and 2006 to his tweets to the clothing brand he likes- makes news. Thankfully for Indian cricket, this larger than life all-rounder has a long way to go before he calls it the quits despite all muck that his career looks like it is in right now, and it would only help if we, the Great Indian Cricket Fans, could have our dear old Yuvraj from the 2007 T20 WC back. The man has the potential to single-handedly win the 2011 world cup for India, and rightly so, he should settle for no less. Like his father Yograj says, “Sher ka baccha ghaas nahi khata (The son of a lion doesn’t eat grass).” And knowing Yuvraj as he is, one can be sure he’s going to hold that one true for his father.