Yuvraj- Indispensable in ODIs?

[Arjun]

This has been at the back of my mind for some time. Yuvraj is a regular in the ODI side for a long time, and has practicaly (bar once in 2001) never lost his place, even when he's had a slump in form. There have been times when he should have been dropped in the next series, or the next match itself, but it's never happened. His Test match weaknesses have now come to haunt him in ODI's too, but yet it's not considered as a problem. I wonder, is he so indispensable in ODI's? It's like he can't be done away with, even when he can't score a run. Maybe because he's the 'experienced' player for ODI's?

 

[gettingbetter]

Its tough. Overall, for such a long career (thus far), he does have a pretty good record, and he has been known to play many great knocks. Just like Clarke, Bell, deVilliers, as I like to tag, the golden boys of their respective countries won't get dropped anytime soon. They are a mixture of youth and maturity, neither young nor old and all touted as the next big thing for their countries.

 

[Sanz]

No. He is India's top batsman in ODIs. Give him a break !!

And also please name his possible replacements too .

 

[pup11]

IMO, Yuvraj is a fantastic batsmen in Odi' when the ball is not moving around or when he is not facing a good spinner (in such circumstances he is hopeless), but he has got tremendous hand-eye-coordination and gift of imperial timing, he is an impact player and deserves his place in the Indian Odi side, btw what run of bad form are you talking about, he has been India's most consistent Odi batsmen for a while, so i can't really understand where you are coming from, maybe you are mixing Yuvraj' awful test form with his Odi form.

 

[Arjun]

No. He is India's top batsman in ODIs. Give him a break !!

And also please name his possible replacements too .

It's a pity that India's top ODI batsman is so problem-ridden, that his Test match weaknesses are used on him to good effect.

The most obvious replacement is Badrinath. Or even slot Tendulkar at his position or recall Laxman or Dravid. At least they don't struggle like he does against part-time spinners. And it shouldn't be really hard to find a replacement for Yuvraj, post-Asia Cup, should it?

 

[Arjun]

IMO, Yuvraj is a fantastic batsmen in Odi' when the ball is not moving around or when he is not facing a good spinner (in such circumstances he is hopeless), but he has got tremendous hand-eye-coordination and gift of imperial timing, he is an impact player and deserves his place in the Indian Odi side, btw what run of bad form are you talking about, he has been India's most consistent Odi batsmen for a while, so i can't really understand where you are coming from, maybe you are mixing Yuvraj' awful test form with his Odi form.

He was horrendous in the Asia Cup. Good figures, but when needed most, he was an obvious failure. This year itself, he averages a little over 30, with three over 50. Then there are innumerable slumps in form (at home in 2003, throughout second half of 2004, middle of 2005, most of 2006) and he looked vulnerable- yet he didn't lose his place.

He has just eight centuries till date. That's not enough, given that a limited-overs misfit like VVS Laxman scored four centuries in a single year.

He has his weaknesses in Test matches. These weaknesses are being used against him to good effect in ODIs as well. That's the problem- he's been too vulnerable for someone who's virtually never dropped.

 

[Sanz]

It's a pity that India's top ODI batsman is so problem-ridden, that his Test match weaknesses are used on him to good effect.

Let's not bring his Test record. He has failed against Mendis, but so has everyone. Don't single him out for no reason .His Test record is not being discussed here and it should not matter.

The most obvious replacement is Badrinath. Or even slot Tendulkar at his position or recall Laxman or Dravid. At least they don't struggle like he does against part-time spinners. And it shouldn't be really hard to find a replacement for Yuvraj, post-Asia Cup, should it?

Tendulkar playing in the middle order in ODIs is the most ridiculous idea, it has been tried over and over again and failed. VVS, since when have we started considering him for ODIs ? Badri, Sure deserves a spot in the team but not at Yuvi's expense.

As for how Post-Asia cup, Gee how many matches Yuvraj has played since the Asia Cup to even demand his removal ? Yuvraj's scores in last 15 games :-

26 , 76, 5, 36, 10, 38, 55, 26, 56, 48, 36*, 37, 36*, 0, 23

508 Runs @ 39.

Wow, Please tell me which other Indian batsman has done better than him.

 

[Arjun]

Let's not bring his Test record. He has failed against Mendis, but so has everyone. Don't single him out for no reason .His Test record is not being discussed here and it should not matter.

He's not made the Test team for a reason. He has some weaknesses that show up in Tests. Now opposition fielding sides are making full use of those weaknesses even in one-dayers. It's the usual thing- bring on your strike bowler (often a spinner), keep an extra slip and it's an easy wicket.

Tendulkar playing in the middle order in ODIs is the most ridiculous idea, it has been tried over and over again and failed. VVS, since when have we started considering him for ODIs ? Badri, Sure deserves a spot in the team but not at Yuvi's expense.

It has been tried at the wrong times, and has never been useful. On present form, Sehwag and Gambhir are now a potent, productive opening partnership. The middle order is a little thin, with Dravid and Ganguly not in the scheme of things, Yuvraj not batting well and everything falling squarely on Dhoni. This is where Tendulkar is needed.

As for how Post-Asia cup, Gee how many matches Yuvraj has played since the Asia Cup to even demand his removal ? Yuvraj's scores in last 15 games :-

26 , 76, 5, 36, 10, 38, 55, 26, 56, 48, 36*, 37, 36*, 0, 23

508 Runs @ 39.

Wow, Please tell me which other Indian batsman has done better than him.

It's no surprise then that the Indians, as a batting side, have struggled.

 

[Dissector]

When you factor in his fielding and bowling, Yuvraj is one of the 2-3 best ODI players in the Indian team over the last few years. He is pretty much an automatic pick at this point especially given the quality of the likely replacements. He will probably struggle in this series against the Lankan spinners but how many other ODI teams have quality spin attacks ?

 

[adharcric]

Despite his recent shortcomings, Yuvraj still has an average of 44 at a strike rate of 87 since the beginning of 2006. He's definitely been exposed against the moving new ball but it's only been two poor outings against Mendis, the quality spinner who's outfoxed virtually every other Indian batsman as well. Give him a fair chance to work out the opposition at least. To answer your question, yes he's indispensable for this one-day side.

 

[Manee]

It is rather silly to question his batting credentials as his recent record (since 2005) is outstanding, Tendulkar-esque, if I may. However, he really needs to get his knee sorted out and if he needs rest to do that, then he is not indespensible in that instance.

 

[adharcric]

It has been tried at the wrong times, and has never been useful. On present form, Sehwag and Gambhir are now a potent, productive opening partnership. The middle order is a little thin, with Dravid and Ganguly not in the scheme of things, Yuvraj not batting well and everything falling squarely on Dhoni. This is where Tendulkar is needed.It's no surprise then that the Indians, as a batting side, have struggled.

Gambhir has looked far better at one-down than as an opener in this one-day side. Once Tendulkar returns, it should be Sehwag-Tendulkar-Gambhir.

 

[SJS]

Yuvraj has weaknesses in his technique which is why he is not a consistent performer at test level. Fortunately, or unfortunately I suppose, these do not get exposed that much in the one dayers. Without that problem he is a devastating batsman at that level.

Whether he is indispensable or not depends on what india would do in his absence. When the big guns of the Indian batting were all firing on al cylinders, he was not. Now that all but Tendulkar are done with ODI's (so it appears), Yuvraj is the mainstay of our batting in that format after the injury prone and fast (re)-tiring Tendulkar.

No one is absolutely indispensable but in a side as unsure of the direction from which the big runs (in the middle order) are going to come, Yuvraj is a very important player indeed. He has played more matches than anyone else and scored more runs in that format than anyone else other than Tendulkar.

Is he indispensable ? Its just a question of semantics.

 

[bryce]

I would actually go as far as saying the answer to the question is yes

 

[Perm]

It just goes to show that putting faith in players can pay off, a bit like Matthew Hayden around 2005.

 

[anoop4real]

I agree that Yuvi has failed to score a run many times but when he scores he does it with a style with a dozen big hits and it has helped India a lot.............and I dont think Badrinath will be a good replacement for him

 

[adharcric]

I agree that Yuvi has failed to score a run many times but when he scores he does it with a style with a dozen big hits and it has helped India a lot.............and I dont think Badrinath will be a good replacement for him

Given that he's our most experienced middle-order batsman, Yuvraj is the last person that Badrinath would replace.

 

[pup11]

He was horrendous in the Asia Cup. Good figures, but when needed most, he was an obvious failure. This year itself, he averages a little over 30, with three over 50. Then there are innumerable slumps in form (at home in 2003, throughout second half of 2004, middle of 2005, most of 2006) and he looked vulnerable- yet he didn't lose his place.

He has just eight centuries till date. That's not enough, given that a limited-overs misfit like VVS Laxman scored four centuries in a single year.

He has his weaknesses in Test matches. These weaknesses are being used against him to good effect in ODIs as well. That's the problem- he's been too vulnerable for someone who's virtually never dropped.

Number of centuries don't decide a players true worth of a player, in Odi cricket if you are not batting in the top 3 or 4, then you won't get too many chances to score a century, Yuvraj won three back-to-back MOS awards in the recent past and he really performed well during that period, yes he has had terrible slumps in the past, but Ganguly had tremendous faith in his ability and he backed him to the hilt, and that' one of the prime reasons that he was able to save his place in the Odi side despite all those failures.

 

[gettingbetter]

Given that he's our most experienced middle-order batsman, Yuvraj is the last person that Badrinath would replace.

QUite true. I wonder when this Rohit Sharma honey-moon is going to go. He didn't have a great series in Australia (yes, a few good innings) and I haven't seen anything in him that warrants him being touted anything in the Tendulkar mould, nor a Robin Singh grade player (yet).

To answer the question. For what he is doing, his role and experience, Yuvraj should not be in the team. He should be averaging close to 45 and striking at what he normally does - that reasoning is in conjunction with his skills, experience and past performance. though as the poster above said, there are others who warrant replacement other than Yuvraj.

 

[adharcric]

QUite true. I wonder when this Rohit Sharma honey-moon is going to go. He didn't have a great series in Australia (yes, a few good innings) and I haven't seen anything in him that warrants him being touted anything in the Tendulkar mould, nor a Robin Singh grade player (yet).

To answer the question. For what he is doing, his role and experience, Yuvraj should not be in the team. He should be averaging close to 45 and striking at what he normally does - that reasoning is in conjunction with his skills, experience and past performance. though as the poster above said, there are others who warrant replacement other than Yuvraj.

Yuvraj is averaging close to 45 (against quality opposition) since the beginning of 2006.