By Qaiser Mohammad Ali, IANS
New Delhi : Yuvraj Singh, who has been in roaring form, will sit out the first Test against Pakistan starting Thursday, even as the selectors also drafted at the eleventh hour Delhi pacer Ishant Sharma into the side.
V.V.S. Laxman, dubbed a Test specialist, is expected to come in place of Yuvraj, while left-arm spinner Murali Karthik is also likely to sit out. “I guess it would be me and Harbhajan Singh (in the XI), but we would finalise the (final) XI tomorrow,” said Kumble.
Kumble will, however, have heaved a sigh of relief with Mahendra Singh Dhoni having recovered from an ankle injury he sustained in the fifth ODI in Jaipur.
While admitting that Yuvraj was in “tremendous form” and is a “quality player”, India’s newly-appointed Test captain Anil Kumble said Yuvraj would have to wait a bit longer to play his 20th Test. “It’s tough to leave him out,” admitted Kumble at the pre-match press conference at the Ferozeshah Kotla Stadium. “I guess he would have to wait a bit before he becomes a regular member of the Test squad,” Kumble said.
Yuvraj, the vice-captain of the One-Day International side, has been in tremendous form recently, first against Australia and then against Pakistan when he won the Man of the Series award. Yuvraj’s scores in his last 10 innings have been 121, 39, 1, 6, 15, 58, 34, 77, 53 not out and 50. Even before that century, the dashing left-hander had an equally impressive sequence and was in great nick during the Twenty20 World Championship in South Africa in September.
Yuvraj’s last Test was against the West Indies at Sabina Park, Jamaica, last year. “It’s unfortunate, but that’s the way it is. He is a great player and Indian batting will revolve around him in the coming years,” Kumble said.
Kumble said it was also disappointing that pacers Sreesanth and Rudra Pratap Singh will miss the match through injuries. “We will miss them, but the side has the quality and depth to go out and win the match,” he said. Munaf Patel and local boy Ishant Sharma have replaced the injured duo.