Has the worm finally turned for Yuvraj?

HYDERABAD: Till recently, he was in the eye of a storm. Murmurs were being heard over his inclusion in the team despite continued failures; some said he had attitude problems and lacked commitment. One innings made everyone eat their words, an unbeaten 79 in the last match of the just-concluded ODI series against Sri Lanka. On Wednesday against South Africa, with the Indians in dire straits, he rose to the occasion with a valiant knock of 103, studded with 10 fours and three towering sixes, to silence his critics once again.

A little over five years ago, the Punjab left-hander had announced his arrival in explosive fashion with a devastating 80-ball 84 against Steve Waugh’s Australians, treating the likes of Glenn McGrath, Brett Lee and Jason Gillespie with disdain. But it took him another 16 matches to cross 50 again — a match-winning 98 against Sri Lanka in Colombo. Another inconsistency break, and he arrived again with that celebrated 69 in the NatWest Trophy final against England.

His form took a dip again, barring two or three occasional flashes, and by the time the current season started, even a spot in the team began to look doubtful. In 44 innings since the 2003 World Cup, Yuvraj had managed just 1167 runs at 29.17.

After striking his maiden century against Bangladesh in Dhaka in April 2003, he had managed just one more three-figure knock, a stunning 139 against Australia at the SCG in January 2004.

Yet, the selectors, coach Greg Chappell and skipper Rahul Dravid continued to repose faith on him, Chappell, in particular, going all out to protect him from his critics. “It’s just a mater of time,” he said. Dravid, in fact, got irked when asked a few days back whether Yuvraj deserved a place in the side. It’s now Yuvraj’s turn to repay the faith. “I am maturing as a player with each innings. I love to battle under pressure. There was never a dearth of effort from my side.”