Yuvraj can still be a Test player

But at an age when Yuvraj should have been pushing for the India captaincy, it is all beginning to unravel for him. After five years and 23 Tests, he does not find a place in the Rest of India team for the Irani Trophy. With both the veterans and youngsters fighting for the middle order slots in the Indian team, Yuvraj seems to have been squeezed out. Neither senior enough to be protected, nor young enough to be given another chance.

Like the girl in the nursery rhyme, when he is good, Yuvraj is very good, but when he is bad he is horrid. That he is talented, there is no doubt. But sometimes talent can be a curse. Talent alone cannot see a player through. Perhaps this is where the cricket board comes in. Player rehabilitation is not about looking after players following retirement. Those playing and struggling need guidance too. The Board has not known how to handle those who do not fall into a pattern. The Vinod Kamblis, for example, were lost to the game for being different.