Saba Karim believes writing off Yuvraj will be a big mistake

With every combination working out extremely well against Sri Lanka in the limited overs series, Indian selectors have decided to retain almost the same squad against Australia. The recently released squad list for the first three ODIs has hence excluded experienced players like Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and Yuvraj Singh.

While the chairman of selectors MSK Prasad has clarified that both the spinners have only been rotated out of the squad, Yuvraj’s place looks shaky. And former selector Saba Karim has stated that the selectors have taken a huge risk in omitting him from the squad.

“Discount Yuvraj at your own peril. He is like a phoenix who has time and again shown that he loves rising from the ashes and proving critics wrong. From past experience, I would think it is too early to say that the writing is on the wall. Yes, he has a few issues he needs to work on, but then, he is a champion performer and has time and again proved that,” said Karim while speaking to CricketNext.

With the likes of Virat Kohli and Mahendra Singh Dhoni setting a whole new level of fitness at the top level, Karim believes it will be a tough challenge for Yuvraj to match but is confident that the World Cup winner will come up on the other side.

The former selector said, “To be honest, we during our time as national selectors did for a short span think that it would be very difficult for Yuvraj to make it back to the national team. But I am equally happy to say that he proved us wrong and showed exemplary work ethics to make a return to the national team.”

Following an impressive comeback in the ODI series against England on home turf earlier this year, the southpaw was included in the ICC Champions Trophy squad. However, Yuvraj failed to perform in England and the form continued in their tour of West Indies.

Now, with all-rounders like Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja really dominating the middle and lower middle order of the side, Yuvraj’s position doesn’t look perfect any more.

However, Karim begged to differ. He said, “You cannot say A fits the bill or B fits the bill on a permanent basis. It all changes from situation to situation and you never know when the team management feels that the experience of someone like Yuvraj would suit the bill perfectly.”