Yuvraj Singh is a cricketer par excellence. But his personality as a whole exceeds even his cricketing genius. Handsome in everything he does, he understandably generates awe and appreciation. When the horrific news of his cancer was revealed, the cricketing world came to a shocked stop.
Sports person or not,word cancer is enough to shakes any person. For Yuvraj, it indicated the end ofhis glorious cricket career. It was a matter of survival and he was required tobe mentally tough. The lungs are the most sacred organ for a sports person, andovercoming its sickness was Yuvraj’s main battle.
That he survived and got back to knock the ball around is asplendid news for Indian cricket. But let's just wait and think for one moment:Aren't we, and that includes the national selectors, getting emotional insupporting the move to get him back in the team? Clinically he has beendeclared fit by the physio but is he match fit? The great fast bowler GlennMcGrath got injured after taking more than 300 Test wickets. Cricket Australiainsisted he plays a couple of Sheffield matches to prove his fitness.
A couple of Australian selectors were asked to check hismatch fitness and only after their clearance, was he selected for Australiaagain. Same was the case with another great, Garfield Sobers was certified fit for the 1973 tour ofEngland only after he played a few matches in West Indies. Didn't Indianselectors ask Ganguly to play domestic matches when he said he was fit to playfor India?
In Yuvi's case, he played only one friendly game before thefive wise men thought it fit to pick him as a part of the national team. Therisk that they have taken is mountainous. At least the chairman of theselection committee, Krish Shrikanth ought to have remembered the 1992 WorldCup when BCCI declared Ravi Shastri fit and it was later realized that he wasunfit during the tournament. Shrikant was very much part of that team.
Shastri was operated on his knee and the selectors asked himto prove his fitness in the presence of Mumbai media at CCI. He didn’t seemhundred percent fit and there was only a week to go before the tournament. Theselector however, picked him. A career that would have easily lasted foranother five to six years, ended abruptly within a year.
The danger to Yuvi's career is the first internationaltournament he plays. It will brutally test his endurance and agility. T20 is amad house. As a fielder he will have torun and throw all the time. A longer format gives you some time to relax. IfYuvi can’t manage to deal with the tremendous work pressure, it’ll affect himmaliciously. It’ll be huge psychological blow for him because he will lose allthe hope that he has gained and will have to start all over again.
The cycling legend Lance Armstrong who even Yuvi has been soinspired by didn’t rush up his injury. He practiced hard, took part in someraces after the cancer operation and only then took part in the Tour de France.Yuvi should have done something similar. It was also the responsibility of theselectors to have a word with him about this.
The truth is simple but hard. Emotions don't get youperformance, reality does. Would selectors take responsibility if Yuvi becomesunfit and again misses the season? No, they won't. They are just eyeing thepresent tournament and how Yuvraj will be an asset to the current team. Butwhat about Yuvraj? Is he that small an asset to be sacrificed for onetournament? Why are we even taking the risk of committing such a blunder?
The selectors have taken as a populist decision and theyshould be aware of its probability of harming Indian cricket. Yuvraj has beenwholeheartedly playing for India for 12 years now. Indian cricket needs him foranother 5 years, and not 5 months. Quick success is always tempting but the difficultand noble task is to think about the future. That is called vision.
