New Delhi: With less than hundred days to go for cricket’s greatest extravaganza -World Cup 2015- to be jointly staged by Australia and New Zealand, senior batsman Yuvraj Singh, who has been out of the selector’s radar for close to a year, is keen to don the national colors again.
The 32-year-old Yuvraj, who last played for India against South Africa in December of 2013, said talks of him giving up hope were false and that he was still determined to play for the national side.
“My words were twisted and were made to sound like I don’t want to play. (But) Anything is possible in life and I am looking forward to playing for India again,” the veteran left-hander was quoted as saying by a news channel.
The Punjab southpaw has featured in 293 ODIs was the Man-of-the-series in the last World Cup in 2011.
While he admits that getting picked is the prerogative of the selectors, Yuvraj said he was determined to perform well in the domestic circuit.
“Selection is not in my hands. I’ve got a few domestic tournaments coming up (and) I look forward to playing in that. If they (selectors) think I can still deliver I think I’ll get picked. I just look forward to playing cricket,” said he.
Yuvraj’s comeback to the national team has been a talking point for many, including the likes of Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar, but the all-rounder is aware of the tough road ahead.
“The youngsters are doing pretty well. It’s going to be hard to find a place in the top XI. But the World Cup is going to be a squad of more than 16, so let’s see what happens,” he said.
Asked about India’s chances in the 2015 World Cup, Yuvraj said India have a good chance of defending the title.
“We have a couple of match winners – Virat (Kohli), Rohit (Sharma) and MS (Dhoni) will be the main batsmen in the team right now. (But) I would say our bowling is a bit inexperienced,” he said.
“Hopefully the bowlers should deliver. Wickets might help the bowlers over there with the bounce,” added Yuvraj.
With India’s long tour of Australia starting later this month, Yuvraj also said the team should focus on building momentum ahead of the World Cup. This especially as the tracks in Australia and New Zealand are different from ones back home.
“Tracks are going to be bouncier and move a bit more so. You can only assess once you get there and how your World Cup starts. It’s very important to get a good momentum going in the World Cup which we had in 2011,” he said. (UNI)
