Yuvraj Singh earmarks players he feels could play for India
Veteran Indian all-rounder Yuvraj Singh won the 2016 IPL with the Sunrisers Hyderabad under the leadership of David Warner. He played a crucial role in the victory with handy contributions with the bat and ball. The 34-year old has been a middle-order lynchpin for team India as well as his state side since his first-class debut for Punjab in the 1996/1997 Ranji season but has suffered from a decline in form since his return to the International fold after recovering from cancer.
In an earlier interview with Sportskeeda, Yuvraj Singh had commented on the bright talents in Punjab cricket and revealed the cricketers who could make the grade for the Indian team in the future. The 34-year old all-rounder had stated, “There are several actually, Shreyas Iyer, he is a great talent and he has already scored 930 runs. He is also the top run-getter. Then we have Mandeep Singh from Punjab, he has also had some great performances till now.”
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The southpaw also said, “We also have Nathu Singh, he is someone who has a unique style, he can do very well. Dhawal Kulkarni, he has been in and out of the national team, but he also has a good chance, considering his performances. Even Sheldon Jackson from Saurashtra is a very good player.”
He added, “I haven't seen any good spinners yet, so nothing from that side.”
Yuvraj Singh also spoke about the efforts he takes to keep up his fitness and performance levels after recovering from cancer. He said, “I lost 50 % of my lung capacity. So I basically had get back to being a sportsperson first. Put in the hours, to work on my fitness. Concentrate a lot more on cardio to bring back my stamina to normalcy. Apart from that, I worked extensively on my agility. Now I make it a point, to put in more hours for running as I have to work harder to maintain it.”
Out of the players Yuvraj Singh had picked for Team India contention, Mandeep Singh and Dhawal Kulkarni have been picked in the squad for the upcoming tour to Zimbabwe. Shreyas Iyer was not selected in the squad despite scoring more than 1000 runs for Mumbai in the previous Ranji Trophy season. Sheldon Jackson and Nathu Singh also missed out on the squad in spite of impressive credentials.