17 years on, is it the end of the road for cricketer Yuvraj Singh?

New Delhi, August 14 : Like in life, miracles do happen in sport but Indian cricket’s ‘fighterman’ Yuvraj Singh may not be seen again in a blue jersey, something he had made his own for the better part of the last 17 years. The national selectors on Sunday did not name the 36-year-old for the ODI series in Sri Lanka, a tough but fair call, indicating their mindset going into the 2019 World Cup in England. So, is it time up for Yuvraj Singh? Perhaps, it is if one reads between the lines of what experts feel.“Yuvi is a fighter but I believe going into the 2019 World Cup, it is more to do with his fitness rather than just form. Look, there’s a difference between 20-over fitness and 50-over fitness,” Saba Karim, who was a national selector in the last panel, told PTI on Monday.
“It was our panel, who got Yuvraj back in 2015 for the Australia T20. At that point, we were looking only at the World T20 in India and Yuvraj’s experience. But now it’s different. I believe Manish (Pandey) is a great talent and should be given enough opportunities,” the former India stumper said.“We have a little over one and half years to the World Cup. The core team needs to get 40 matches at least. And Manish has done extremely well as India A captain. And he is perhaps one of the best fielders in current Indian line-up,” Karim observed.
An interesting piece of statistic will help in understanding the practical reason behind the selectors’ call. When India will go into World Cup in 2019, it will be one of India’s oldest teams in terms of average age playing a marquee event.