Test place for Yuvi..??

Indian batsman Yuvraj Singh’s match-winning hundreds in the first two one-dayers versus England could finally cement his test berth.

The 26-year-old left-hander slammed the second fastest ODI hundred by an Indian while scoring 138 not out in the first game against England.

He then put on an assured, all-round display with 118 and also took four for 28 bowling slow left-arm spin in the next to put India 2-0 up in the seven-match series.

India’s test selectors could now reward Yuvraj by recalling him to the middle-order slot vacated after former skipper Saurav Ganguly retired at the end of the 2-0 home series win over Australia earlier this month. In the first game in Rajkot, Yuvraj displayed the brutal power he did on his teenage debut eight years ago when he hit a match-winning 84 against Australia in his first one-dayer. In the second England game on Monday, he showed he could also curb his natural instinct, rescuing India from 29 for three.

Chief selector Krishnamachari Srikkanth believes Yuvraj is primed for a return for the two tests against England next month.

“I see Yuvi as a potential match-winner in Tests too,” he told The Telegraph. “Over the years, he has already shown he’s a match-winner in ODIs.

“There are others in the running as well (for tests), but Yuvi is definitely a front-runner.”

A perceived lack of focus has been blamed for Yuvraj not cementing a test berth despite his superb one-day performances.

SUSPECT TECHNIQUE

The presence of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Ganguly and Vangipurappu Laxman has also meant he has played just 23 matches since making his test debut five years ago.

Some experts believe his technique is inadequate against seaming deliveries on bouncier pitches.

The batsman seemed to have ironed out his flaws when he suffered a knee injury in 2006 during a training session.

He left his stamp during last year’s World Twenty20 triumph in South Africa, hitting England paceman Stuart Broad for six sixes in one over.

Recalled to the test side last December following injury to Tendulkar, he stroked a career-best 169 against Pakistan in the drawn third test in Bangalore, sealing a 1-0 series win.

But Yuvraj’s flop on the subsequent Australia tour cost him his test place.

His future looked unsure after scoring 72 runs in five outings in the one-day series win in Sri Lanka in August, losing the vice-captaincy before being ignored for the Australia tests.

Srikkanth, a former opening batsman, felt confidence Yuvraj remained the key to Yuvraj’s batting.

“I’ve never felt Yuvi has a problem focusing on what he’s required to do. I’ve always seen him as a confidence-player and such players need a couple of good knocks under their belt.”

Sachin is world’s highest run scorer

The stifling suspense and the prolonged wait finally came to an end as Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar  on Friday (October 17) emerged as the highest run-accumulator in Test cricket’s history, staking a legitimate claim as the best batsman cricket has known since Don Bradman, both aesthetically and statistically.

After his mission incomplete in Bangalore, Tendulkar redeemed himself in Mohali in his 152nd Test and West Indian legend Brian Lara was toppled from the highest Test run-accumulator’s pedestal. Test debutant Peter Siddle sent down the first ball of the post-tea session. Tendulkar glided it to third man for three runs to surpass Lara’s record of 11,953 runs and raise the bar even higher for posterity.

Relieved to have achieved the milestone that eluded him in Bangalore, an overwhelmed Tendulkar took the helmet off and looked upwards in a silent prayer and suddenly all the hostility surrounding the Indo-Australian Test series evaporated as Ricky Ponting and his men came to shake hands with him.

Sourav Ganguly walked down from the non-striker’s end, patting him on the achievement and firecrackers went off around the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium in a pre-Diwali celebration to mark the golden moment in the history of Indian cricket.

Tendulkar arrived here with 11,939 runs against his name from 151 Tests, averaging 54.02 hitting 39 centuries in the process. His ODI record put together– he tops the run-accumulator’s chart there too with 16,361 runs — Tendulkar has scored more than 25,000 international runs with the help of a mind boggling (42+39) 81 centuries and 138 half-centuries.

And all those runs flowed from the blade of someone who, rather reluctantly, swapped leather-flinging with willow-wielding after a blunt Dennis Lillee told the 12-year-old aspiring fast bowler in a Chennai camp that he had no hopes as a pacer. Or probably the blame actually lies with Waqar Younis.

Tendulkar was hit on the mouth by Waqar in his debut Test series in Pakistan with dripping blood drenching the shirt of the cuddly teen with curly hair. Nineteen long years since the incident and bowlers around the world continue to bleed even to this day for a folly of one of their predecessors. Worse, the torment is far from over.

Almost as a matter of revenge, Tendulkar lorded over the bowlers since that 1989 series, eclipsing virtually every batting record and piling on mountain of runs and setting new benchmarks for batsmanship in the process.

Impeccable technique, perfect temperament and unflinching commitment to his craft have made Tendulkar a paragon of all batting virtues and his single-minded determination and an incredible ability to insulate himself from anything unwarranted have only added to his aura.

With no real chink in his batting armour, bowling to him is often a trauma for the bowlers, although Shane Warne preferred to call it nightmare. Equipped with every shot in the book and endowed with the flair to blend routine with recherché, Tendulkar grew in stature with ever game before eventually attaining cult status. Don Bradman anointed him as his heir and euphoric Indians fans deified him.

He did burn his fingers with captaincy before renouncing it but the aura and idolatry remained intact. Unlike others, his name is not debated in selection meetings. They just enquire about his fitness. Loudmouth opponents like Australia refrain from sledging him, not as a favour but out of fear as it often brings out the best in Tendulkar. Bowlers fancy his scalp and whenever hit for a boundary, considers it comeuppance.

For his legion of fans, Tendulkar has been nothing sort of a messiah. Every time he walked out in the middle and took guard, he was expected to excel, regardless of opposition, condition and everything else. And on most occasions, Tendulkar did just that and his cult grew.

His impeccable demeanour on and off the field and a childish love for the game have endeared Tendulkar to all, making him a genuine ambassador of the game. With this new feather added to his already well-decorated cap, Tendulkar is now in a league of his own.

List of world’s top Test cricket batsmen after Sachin Tendulkar broke Brian Lara’s record to become the leading run scorer today (Name, country, Tests, runs, centuries):

Sachin Tendulkar (IND) 152* 11,955 39
Brian Lara (WIS) 131 11,953 34
Allan Border (AUS) 156 11,174 27
Steve Waugh (AUS) 168 10,927 32
Rahul Dravid (IND) 127* 10,341 25
Ricky Ponting (AUS) 121* 10,239 36
Sunil Gavaskar (IND) 125 10,122 34.

Besides Tendulkar, only Rahul Dravid and Ricky Ponting are the active cricketers in the list while Brian Lara, Allan Border, Steve Waugh and Sunil Gavaskar have already retired.