Yuvraj Singh’s fitness reason behind exclusion from Indian squad, says MSK Prasad

The Indian cricket board clarified that Rohit Sharma would play the role of the skipper in Virat Kohli's absence for upcoming ODI and T20I series against Sri Lanka. Young players like Washington Sundar and Basil Thampi were handed a spot in the limited overs squad while Jasprit Bumrah's exceptional performances earned him his first call-up to the Test squad. However, Yuvraj who has been struggling with fitness, failed to impress the selectors yet again. 

"Yuvraj Singh has fitness issues. He has not played a lot of competitive cricket lately," Prasad said in the press conference after the announcement of the squads as quoted by India Today.

Earlier, when the selectors had picked the squad for the limited-overs series for Sri Lanka tour in August, he missed the chance along with Suresh Raina as the duo failed to cross the yo-yo test hurdle. The veteran batsman admitted his failures and added that after three failed attempts, but had passed the recent one on Sunday.

"I would like to tell that I am failing. I still fail. I failed the last three fitness tests but yesterday I passed my fitness test. After 17 years I am still failing," Yuvraj said.

Yuvraj, who played his last ODI against West Indies in June, where he scored 39 runs, claimed that he was not afraid of failures and would keep working hard as he targeting a place in the 2019 World Cup team.

"I am still playing. I don't know what format I am going to play. But I am pushing everyday as hard as I used to, may be harder than before because I am getting older. And I see myself playing cricket till 2019 and obviously take a call after that," the 35-year-old said.