JOIN USYuvraj-mania grips Vizag ahead of T20 game
The first of the two T20 Internationals between 2007 World T20 champions India and New Zealand comes to the land of hills and beaches, and it is abuzz with the return of Yuvraj Singh and a few other faces who many thought were down and out.
After two thrilling Tests at Hyderabad and Bangalore – where near-full houses were witnessed for most part of eight days – the series now turns to the T20s and the drama begins come Saturday.
Two days ahead of the game the curiosity is palpable. Not over if India will or not or that this is the first T20 International to be ever held at the Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA stadium or if the rain gods will continue to hound the port city over the next 72 hours.
It’s about whether Yuvraj, who carried India to a memorable ODI World Cup triumph last year, is the same after winning his battle against cancer. It’s about if the stylish left-hander can take off from where he had left more than a year ago.
Nearly every street corner has a banner which reads ‘Welcome back Yuvi’ and the people who found out about the star’s arrival, braved the rain and a horde of security guards and waited in front of the hotel to catch a glimpse of the man.
It goes without saying that there is a lot riding on the 30-year-old ahead of this series.
While he chose to laugh it off and play a couple of pranks on Rohit Sharma at the hotel, the rest of the pack who are looking to make their mark, chose to keep their straight face on.
Harbhajan Singh and Piyush Chawla have not featured for India in any format of international cricket for over a year while Lakshmipathi Balaji has not donned the country’s colours for three years now.
They have got some action under their belt but it remains to be seen if that and a couple of weeks of training at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore are enough to help them perform at the highest level.
That is the case with Yuvraj too. The Punjab middle-order batsman is not someone that the team would want to leave out to but coming as he does after what he has gone through, the air is thick with apprehension though it remains to be seen if he will feature in the playing eleven.
At the beginning of the Test series, the limelight was on the youngsters and whether they could try and fill the void left by the retirements of two greats Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman. They did manage to partially fulfill that role.
Now, the question is if the ‘new’ faces can deliver in the shortest format for India and if the ones who come in from the longest form of the game can adapt quickly enough.
All these answers will be arrived upon in due time but for now, Yuvraj is the only name on everyone’s lips.