CHENNAI: The angry young man of Indian cricket is back in full swing.
The arrogance and the flair is forming a deadly combo as Yuvraj Singh, with every passing day, is looking like the Yuvi of old. There's this intent to show the world that he is still very much the same player that helped him become one of the hottest properties of Indian cricket a couple of years back.
Yuvraj Singh plays a shot off the bowling of West Indies' Ravi Rampaul during the Cricket World Cup match in Chennai on March 20, 2011.
"There's no change in me since the beginning of the World Cup, I am the same old..." Yuvi may try to tone down the upswing, but deep down the swashbuckling left-hander knows that a few things have turned around for him. Not that every move of MS Dhoni has worked in this World Cup so far, but one thing's for sure, his confidence in the southpaw just ahead of the quadrennial showpiece is paying dividends. When someone had asked the skipper whether it's Yuvi's bowling that is keeping him in the team, Dhoni had said: "It's an added advantage no doubt, but I have full faith in Yuvraj Singh the batsman.....Just see what he does if he gets a couple of fifties."
The words have turned prophetic, the Punjab boy got the fifties early on, and since then he hasn't looked back. All those breathtaking shots are coming back thick and fast and the century against the West Indies is bound to boost his confidence going into the quarterfinal against Australia at Ahmedabad later this week.
"I have worked on my batting and the results are showing. I had my quota of injuries and poor form, but as you know, tough people stand out in tough times," Yuvi said, with the smile still intact.
Even as the likes of Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina were coming up, Dhoni believed before the beginning of the tournament that No. 4 is the best position for the southpaw. Yuvi, himself, too believes the same as that gives him "more time to build an innings".
"When you come at No. 5, you may not always get the same number of deliveries that you get if you are playing at 4."
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