Having axed from the India squad for Sri Lanka ODIs that saw the men-in-blue clinching silverware with a clean sweep 5-0 series win, bygone cricketing hero Yuvraj Singh seems to be out of contention for the upcoming Australia series as well.
After the routing of Sri Lanka in Tests 3-0 and ODIs 5-0, India are scheduled to play Australia, who will be touring India for five ODIs and three T20Is. Starting with the first ODI on 17 September in Chennai, India will be engaged in a tough limited-over battle with the Aussies till October 13.
Earlier, it was learnt that middle-order batsmen Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh were axed from India’s limited-over squad after failing in fitness tests. One of the prime fitness tests — YOYO Test — revealed that the two cricketers were not fit enough to play alongside others in blue jersey.
Also read: What makes Virat Kohli fitter than Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina?
Keeping an eye on the 2019 World Cup, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), national selectors, captain Virat Kohli and coach Ravi Shastri are currently on an experimental drive. The gist of it came in view during the Sri Lanka series that saw youngsters like Manish Pandey and Kedar Jadhav getting best of opportunities to play.
Amidst this, chances of Yuvraj making a return seem like an uphill task. A two-time World Cup winner and one of India’s finest limited-over cricketers, Yuvraj is moving to a fading end of his career.
The 35-year-old southpaw batsman last played an ODI in June this year, managing to score 39 runs against West Indies.
Yuvraj’s last fair outing for India came in the Champions Trophy opener, where he scored a causative half-ton against Pakistan. In his last seven ODIs, the Chandigarh cricketer has managed to score just 162 runs.
According to reports, a senior BCCI official, who is privy to selection policy, revealed that Yuvraj is no longer in contention for the 2019 World Cup in England and Wales.
So far, Yuvraj has scored 8701 runs for India in 304 ODIs, besides 1900 and 1177 runs from 40 Tests and 58 T20Is respectively.