Yuvraj Singh still has it, will bring in the crowds, believes Ben Cutting
Ben Cutting has affirmed that Yuvraj Singh is still a fan-favourite and still has that ability to pull in large crowds due to his swagger and big-hitting. The duo played together for Mumbai Indians in the IPL 2019 and will also feature in the upcoming edition of Abu Dhabi T10 League.
The friendship between Yuvraj Singh and Ben Cutting has grown over the years as the duo were together in IPL 2016 when Sunrisers Hyderabad triumphed. They against forged a partnership at the winning Mumbai Indians team in the IPL 2019. While Yuvraj Singh is often criticized as someone whose prime was behind him and was constantly ignored by the national team selectors and thus decided to call it quits from international cricket, Cutting has turned into a T20 freelancer as well.
Yuvraj will play for Maratha Arabians in the Abu Dhabi T10 League while Cutting will provide services to the Deccan Gladiators. Cutting believes that Yuvraj still has the X-factor that makes him a special player and he still has the ability to pull large crowds in the stadium.
"It's exciting to have Yuvraj Singh. He has done wonders for the world of T20 and one day cricket. Now he is playing in the foreign circuit which not many other Indian players have done. So he is certainly going to bring some crowds through the gates," Cutting told IANS.
"We saw what he could do in Canada in that tournament (Global T20 Canada). He has still got it regardless of his age. As long as he is enjoying, people will come and watch him," he further added.
Indian players are often not given the NOC by the Board to go and play in other leagues around the world. Now that Yuvraj has been given this permission, it will be interesting to see if other retired Indian players follow the footsteps of the veteran. If the current players get the NoC, it will give massive exposure to fringe players in India and will help them prepare better for overseas conditions. But Cutting feels that it will be only possible for those Indians who are at the twilight of their careers.
"I know it is tough for the Indian players to get their NOC signed by the Indian board to play in other leagues. That all makes sense, that's fair enough. I think like Yuvi, who has come at the back end of their careers, probably more of them are going to do that," Cutting said.
T20 has always been termed as a batsman's game. But it has always been the bowlers that have created and impact by taking wickets at crucial times to win games of cricket for their franchises. Cutting believes that even though the T10 format offers similar beating to the bowlers all over the park, it is still the bowlers who hold the key and that the side with the best bowling attack will have a great chance of winning the league.
"It's very much a defensive attitude in T10. The team that will defend well with the ball will win the game. You need to take wickets but you don't need to bowl out a team to win the game like in T20 cricket," said Cutting.
Cutting is very positive about the chances of Deccan Gladiators with the team having a new name now. Cutting himself was seldom used by Mumbai Indians in the IPL but he has shown glimpses of brilliance in those few chances that were given. He is looking forward to contributing as much as he can with both bat and ball to help the Gladiators win games and probably the tournament.
"I just want to score as many runs for Deccan Gladiators. We were Team Sindhis last year, a different team and owner. I am excited to meet the guys and play well for Deccan," he asserted.
He also touched on the role that Warner has played for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL and the way that Steve Smith has made a comeback in the Ashes. He feels that the duo are on top of their game and hopes that they will also join and enjoy playing the T10 league towards the twilight of their careers.
"We all know what he (Warner) can do. We saw that in the IPL as well. He missed out on the Ashes. Steve Smith scored a lot of runs. They are two class players, they will ebb and flow in their form but they will score runs for you if you keep sticking with them. I hope to see those guys playing T10 towards the back end of their careers. It wouldn't surprise me," he concluded.
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