By IANS
Kolkata : Indian cricket board chief Sharad Pawar Sunday heaped praise on stylish lefthander Yuvraj Singh for his devastating performance in the Twenty20 World Championships in South Africa.
“For the first 10 overs during the Indian innings I was very tense. It is because we were playing against Australia. But the boys batted excellently in the next 10 overs and kept constant pressure while bowling,” Pawar told reporters at the Eden Gardens here.
“Yuvraj’s efforts deserve special praise. But at the same time, it’s a triumph of teamwork. The atmosphere in the dressing room was tremendous,” he said.
When asked whether the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) would give any incentive to the team for reaching the Twenty20 final, Pawar said, “Let’s wait for one more game.”
To a query whether the superb performance of the Indian team under new captain M.S. Dhoni should put at rest speculations about the Test captaincy, the BCCI president said: “It’s completely up to the selectors and the board cannot interfere in such matters.”
Pawar, a seasoned politician, was also non-committal about the name of the new coach ahead of the Australia series.
Pawar held a meeting with Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) president Prasun Mukherjee and other working-committee members.
With the lease period of Eden Gardens lapsing, the CAB has made an application to the army – the owner of the land housing Eden Gardens – for renewal of the lease.
A few days back, West Bengal Sports Minister Subhas Chakraborty in a letter urged Defence Minister A.K. Anthony not to renew the lease in favour of the CAB so as to allow other sporting activities on the ground. Pawar, however, batted for the CAB.
“Eden Gardens is going to be a very important venue for the 2011 World Cup and for this precise reason, the stadium will undergo infrastructural development. For improving the infrastructure, a long-term lease is required,” he said.
“I will talk with my colleagues in the government and try to resolve the issue as early as possible,” Pawar, also the union agriculture minister, said.
The BCCI would give an additional grant of Rs.250 million for overhauling the facilities at the Eden Gardens.