INDIAN DOMESTIC CRICKET
Yuvraj had announced his retirement from all formats last year. © Getty
For the past few days, Yuvraj Singh has been sweating with his Punjab teammates at the IS Bindra Punjab Cricket Association Stadium. Yuvraj is motivated to return in the upcoming Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament. He spent a good 45 minutes in the nets, and when the ball hit the sweet spot of his bat, it became apparent that the charismatic southpaw hadn’t lost an iota of his magic touch. About 30 cricketers from Punjab divided into two groups had attended a 10-day preparatory camp before the T20 tournament on December 18 in Ludhiana.
However, uncertainty prevails regarding his return. Yuvraj has yet to receive approval from the Chairman of the Cricket Control Board in India (BCCI), Sourav Ganguly. The secretary of the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA), Puneet Bali, who had asked Yuvraj to come out of retirement, told TOI: “We are still waiting for the response from the BCCI.”
Yuvraj had retired from national and international cricket, including the Indian Premier League (IPL), in June 2019, and had been authorized to play foreign leagues around the world. He played for the Toronto Nationals at the Global T20 Canada held in August last year and for the Maratha Arabians at the Abu Dhabi T10 last November.
The BCCI rule states that active cricketers on the domestic circuit cannot participate in the T20 leagues abroad. So it will be interesting to see if the flamboyant hitter gets a green signal from the board or not.
In addition to Yuvraj, the Punjab selectors have also included pacemaker Barinder Sran on their 30-man likely list ahead of the Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament. The 28-year-old, who has played six ODI and two T20I for India, was critical of the Punjab selectors before moving to Chandigarh last year.
The trade didn’t work out well for Sran as he only managed to get five wickets in the same number of A-List matches, two wickets in four T20 matches, and was unable to take any wickets in the solo Ranji Trophy game he played against Arunachal. Pradesh. . He was later eliminated by the Chandigarh selectors, indicating his losing form in form and has now returned to play for Punjab.
Sreesanth named among Kerala’s probable
Sreesanth is finally ready to return to active cricket after completing his ban as the fast pitcher has been included in the 26-man likely squad for Kerala’s senior state team ahead of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. The T20 tournament is scheduled to begin on January 10.
Sreesanth has been eligible to play as of September 13 this year, but with the start of the national season delayed due to the pandemic, the pacemaker has had to wait to return. Sreesanth, 37, and the rest of the players, including players like Sanju Samson, Sachin Baby and Jalaj Saxena, will participate in a preparatory camp at SD College Ground in Alappuzha from December 20-30.
© TNN
