At his peak, Yuvraj Singh was one of the most dominating batsmen in world cricket. One of the most talented players to put on India’s jersey, Yuvraj had a dream run between 2005 and 2009, as no one in world cricket scored more runs and centuries in that period of time.
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A legend in the limited overs format, Yuvraj never really nailed down a spot in the test format. At his peak, his path to the test side was blocked by the greatest middle-order in the history of Indian cricket.
In India’s tour to Australia in 2007-08, Rahul Dravid was made to open to batting in order to accommodate the in-form Yuvraj. But that did not work out too well, as Yuvraj had a poor tour and was subsequently dropped from the test format.
In a recent interview, Yuvi speaks about his inability to break into the test format.
“When I was growing up, I played a lot of two-day and three-day cricket. I also looked forward to playing more and more Test matches, because I always felt that everytime I did well in Test cricket, one-day cricket and (later) T20 cricket looked easier. That was the reason I wanted to play more Test matches.
“But the competition was so high. I was always trying to find a slot in competition with Sourav (Ganguly) and (V.V.S.) Laxman. I opened the innings in one Test against Australia in Chennai in 2004. I got out early in the first innings (for 8), and then in the second innings I was batting on 7 when the game was rained off.
“So that opportunity too was wasted. Later I was brought into the middle-order. I eventually won a slot only when Sourav retired. And then, unfortunately, I was diagnosed as suffering from cancer at the peak of my career.
“I was 29. Had I continued I would have played 80 Test matches or more. But I really have no regrets. It’s been a blessing because I played 15 years of international cricket. I have to be positive and move forward.”
