Yuvraj- Indispensable in ODIs?

[Uppercut]

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.

Indeed, was just about to post that. Yuvraj has something Laxman did not- the ability to seriously accelarate. Really, really hard (six sixes Stuart Broad style). His role in the team doesn't really specify scoring centuries.


I've found some career stats that pinpoint just how utterly ridiculous it is to look at number of centuries in ODI cricket.

Mike Hussey
ODIs: 90
Runs: 2307
Average: 54.93
Strike Rate: 85.67
Centuries: 2

 

[ret]

the saying that stats are like mini skirts in the sense that they reveal the most but hide the vital is true in Yuvi [who is one of my favs] case. Yuvi has shown in the recent past that he is good enough for those 30s-40s, which should make him suitable for #6, where he can blasts his way to a 30-40 not out

the big gripe I have against Yuvi is that he doesn't convert those starts into a 70+ score as often as one of the mainstay of a line up should. More over when India needed him to play a 70+ knock, he hasn't delivered as often as one would have liked

in the games, starting this year, he averages 32 from 18 games [till Aug 18th]

below are his scores for the games this yr till Aug 18th
0 - 30 = 2, 3, 6, 26, 5, 10, 26, 0, 23
31- 50 = 36, 38, 36*, 37, 36*, 48
51 - 70 = 55, 56
70+ = 76

the scores tell the story of Yuvi, the man who looks good but throws his wkt away after getting starts and fails to make it count when he is in .... for Yuvi to be amongst the key ODI batsmen for India, he has to learn to get 70+ innings most often than not when he gets going .... if the trend continues it will be hard for him to hold on to his place as a #4 or #5 batsman and one could soon find him playing at #6 and then gradually being replaced

 

[SJS]

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

I would put a 'sometimes' there

 

[tooextracool]

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.

Im trying to understand the logic behind this argument, but I dont think I ever will because it doesnt make sense whatever way you look at it. Yuvraj primarily bats at number 5, i know hes been given opportunities at 4 lately, but 5 should be his fixed position as that is where he has played for the majority of his career. The number of opportunities that he has to score centuries at number 5 or even at 4 is seriously limited. Laxman did have 4 in a year, but thats because he batted at 3. You only have to look at Michael Bevan's record, arguably the best ever in ODIs, and he only had 6 in his entire career.

Ive been extremely impressed with Yuvraj in the last year and a half or so. He has taken his game to a new level and if it werent for his transformation into a top class player, the likes of Dravid and Ganguly might still be playing ODIs which really would not have been good for Indian cricket. He has his weaknesses outside the off stump and against spin but in the ODIs hes always been able to work his way around those limitations.

 

[anoop4real]

Im trying to understand the logic behind this argument, but I dont think I ever will because it doesnt make sense whatever way you look at it. Yuvraj primarily bats at number 5, i know hes been given opportunities at 4 lately, but 5 should be his fixed position as that is where he has played for the majority of his career. The number of opportunities that he has to score centuries at number 5 or even at 4 is seriously limited. Laxman did have 4 in a year, but thats because he batted at 3. You only have to look at Michael Bevan's record, arguably the best ever in ODIs, and he only had 6 in his entire career.

Ive been extremely impressed with Yuvraj in the last year and a half or so. He has taken his game to a new level and if it werent for his transformation into a top class player, the likes of Dravid and Ganguly might still be playing ODIs which really would not have been good for Indian cricket. He has his weaknesses outside the off stump and against spin but in the ODIs hes always been able to work his way around those limitations.

Hmm that's right number of centuries cant decide anything

 

[Jono]

YUVIIIIIIIIIIIIII!

I accept all the criticisms regarding his test prospects, but he is a must in India's limited overs team. Every day of the week and twice on Sunday (cos sometimes the Indian team needs him to bat twice, often because he's thrown his wicket away himself ).

 

[masterblaster]

YUVIIIIIIIIIIIIII!

I accept all the criticisms regarding his test prospects, but he is a must in India's limited overs team. Every day of the week and twice on Sunday (cos sometimes the Indian team needs him to bat twice, often because he's thrown his wicket away himself ).

I know you're a huge fan of his, but personally I think he's an arrogant douche. Regardless of that though he's been a proven and valuable member of the Indian ODI side and a proven failure when it's really counted. He has played some amazing knocks but has always let the Indian team down when it's most needed (ie. a big final or in a crunch situation).

Plus he's absolutely hopeless against quality spin bowling and his fielding has deteriorated alarmingly over the last few years. Still I don't think we can replace him with any of the younger talent coming through. As for test cricket I would prefer Kaif or Badrinath over Yuvraj in test matches most times.

 

[SJS]

I know you're a huge fan of his, but personally I think he's an arrogant douche. Regardless of that though he's been a proven and valuable member of the Indian ODI side and a proven failure when it's really counted. He has played some amazing knocks but has always let the Indian team down when it's most needed (ie. a big final or in a crunch situation).

Plus he's absolutely hopeless against quality spin bowling and his fielding has deteriorated alarmingly over the last few years. Still I don't think we can replace him with any of the younger talent coming through. As for test cricket I would prefer Kaif or Badrinath over Yuvraj in test matches most times.

Yuvraj is absolutely brilliant if he can get to the ball on the half volley or if the ball is not moving off the wicket. If it does deviate off the wicket and you bowl a good line, he just cant handle it if he stays put in the crease. This is his second big drawback after the problem with really fast short pitched stuff. People like Yuvraj are flourishing today because really fast bowlers (consistently at 150's) are hardly available and lateral movement is also not to be seen coupled with accuracy.

Waqar, Wasim and any of the great West Indians would have made a monkey out of him as wil any great spinner on slightly helpful wicket.

 

[Manee]

Not sure that Wasim bowled 150kph ever, never mind consistently, but I am sure that he would have turned out to be Yuvraj's worst enemy on the playing field.

 

[Jono]

I know you're a huge fan of his, but personally I think he's an arrogant douche. Regardless of that though he's been a proven and valuable member of the Indian ODI side and a proven failure when it's really counted. He has played some amazing knocks but has always let the Indian team down when it's most needed (ie. a big final or in a crunch situation).

Plus he's absolutely hopeless against quality spin bowling and his fielding has deteriorated alarmingly over the last few years. Still I don't think we can replace him with any of the younger talent coming through. As for test cricket I would prefer Kaif or Badrinath over Yuvraj in test matches most times.

Oh he is an arrogant douche, but that's never stopped me actually liking a player in sport. Case in point Shoaib, who is one of my favourite players.

But all your criticisms of him are spot on.

 

[SJS]

Not sure that Wasim bowled 150kph ever, never mind consistently, but I am sure that he would have turned out to be Yuvraj's worst enemy on the playing field.

He moved the ball - I talked of bowlers with either attribute not necessarily both

 

[pup11]

He moved the ball - I talked of bowlers with either attribute not necessarily both

Akram was a master of moving the ball through the air, and itbt on most occasions he didn't even needed the conditions to assist him much, so a bowler like him would have had batsmen like Yuvraj for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
As we all know Yuvraj is almost brilliant in batsmen friendly conditions in Odi', but when the ball moves he is almost a sitting duck due to his technique (or the lack of it), but what' surprising for me is that he is playing international cricket for almost 9 years now, and by now he should have worked on ironing out his obvious flaws, of not being able to play spin or against a swinging or seaming ball, but there has hardly been any improvement in those areas of his game.

 

[SJS]

Akram was a master of moving the ball through the air, and itbt on most occasions he didn't even needed the conditions to assist him much, so a bowler like him would have had batsmen like Yuvraj for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
As we all know Yuvraj is almost brilliant in batsmen friendly conditions in Odi', but when the ball moves he is almost a sitting duck due to his technique (or the lack of it), but what' surprising for me is that he is playing international cricket for almost 9 years now, and by now he should have worked on ironing out his obvious flaws, of not being able to play spin or against a swinging or seaming ball, but there has hardly been any improvement in those areas of his game.

I completely agree but when there are one billion people telling you, you are great, a failed cricketer as a father (who wants his son's glory to somehow show himself in greater light), who tells you, and anyone else who wants to listen, that you are the greatest thing to happen to Indian cricket since Sachin Tendulkar (if him), media, film industry and starlets and models to fawn on you, sponsors willing to shower you with millions for hitting sixes (plus the swagger in your walk and talk) and a board that will give you zillions for once scoring 36 runs (even if in one over), the flat tracks, restrictions on bowlers that one day over offers and, better still, the shorter boundaries and shorter 'eyesight' T-20 imparts on watching public and the media, who wants to bother about spending precious hours ironing out 'so-called-defects' when that time could be spent more profitably in the recording studio.