Tendulkar advice keeps Yuvraj going

It's been more than three years since he started his spirited recovery from a rare germ-cell cancer. Eighteen months since he was last seen in India colours. Intensely involved in Punjab's training session on the eve of their Ranji Trophy game against Mumbai, Yuvraj Singh appeared to be at peace.

He was at the Wankhede Stadium, the venue where he was presented with the Player of the Tournament award after India's victorious World Cup campaign in 2011. But it seems unlikely that he will be part of such scenes again, given that he is 33, and hasn't played for India in any format since the World T20 final in April 2014.

Yuvraj, however, hasn't ruled out a return to the India dressing room as he leads Punjab into their second match of the Ranji Trophy season.

"Just want to play and enjoy my cricket," Yuvraj said, when asked about his targets for the season. "If I get opportunity to come back and play for India I look forward to that. These are the games which will give me opportunity to come back, so I am trying my best. I had six weeks of good off-season training and practicing so hopefully it comes through in the games."

For someone like Yuvraj, who is used to playing in front of packed crowds, returning to domestic cricket is not easy. The quality of cricket is not as high, conditions aren't as they are at the international level, and there is hardly anyone in the stands to applaud a sparkling drive or a diving catch.

It can become difficult for someone who has seen the highs of international cricket to go through the grind of domestic cricket all over again. To motivate himself, Yuvraj keeps recalling a conversation he had last year with Sachin Tendulkar.

"I was speaking to Sachin last year and he said that obviously the most important thing is to play for India but don't forget to enjoy the game," Yuvraj said. "As young kids we always played the game to enjoy it, we never knew that we were going to play for India. I enjoy playing cricket and it was always my passion as a young kid, so as long as I am enjoying it, I want to play."

The enjoyment certainly brought rewards last season, when he ended the Ranji Trophy campaign with 671 runs from seven matches at an average of 55.91, including three centuries in the first three games.

While he has one eye on making the cut for the next year's World Twenty20, since "it's always an honour to play another World Cup", his immediate focus is on leading Punjab in the absence of Harbhajan Singh. Punjab started each of their last three seasons on a high note only to fizzle out later on. The new season has brought another bright start - an innings win over Railways - and Yuvraj hopes the team can go the distance this time.

"Punjab started really well last year and last three games we didn't do well so that's why we didn't qualify [for the knockouts]. I think we started well [this year also], and we need to be consistent," he said. "We always get to quarter-finals, semi-finals, but we are not able to win the finals. In 50-over and T20 we went to the finals, so I think that [consistency] is one area that we need to improve, to win a major tournament."

If Punjab can overcome a dispirited Mumbai over the next four days, they will have taken a step towards that aim.