Cricket World Cup 2007 - Batting Stars to watch , Yuvraj Singh

Yuvraj Singh, the young blood that was injected in the Indian cricket team on 2000 against Kenya, proved as a utility player on the Nat West trophy in 2001 where he, with Kaif, won the finals single handedly after the Indian top-order collapse.

Yuvraj Singh is a classy left hander who rotates the ball with ease; one of the finest runner between the wickets, which is proven from time to time. He is a natural stroke-maker who finds gaps even during a tight field setup. Yuvraj has also proved his skills in the bowling department where he has taken 42 ODI wickets. He is a slow left-arm orthodox bowler, who bowls decent spells with economy rate of 4.9 per over.

Yuvrajs strengths are in his batting during the crucial situations. He is one of those cool players who never get tensed even when chasing big targets. Yuvraj Singh can bat at any position and can be used as any way the team needs during the match.

Precise fielding is the other strength of Yuvraj Singh. Patrolling at the Point or the Gully area, he stops around 40 runs in a match, which is his personal contribution in the team. Since 2000 till 2006, Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif took the Indian fielding to a new level, which was not seen before. Batsmen hesitate to run if the ball goes in the direction of Yuvraj.

There is no specific weakness for Yuvraj Singh as a cricketer. But, on some matches he might have not performed up to the expected level. If Yuvraj Singh is in the team, one can expect a contribution of 60 runs from him. In this, around 30 runs will come from his fielding abilities and remaining from his batting. Sometimes, due to his rushes, he might throw his wicket at crucial situations which exposes the tail of Indian batting order.

There are lots of opportunities for Yuvraj Singh to prove his skills again in the team. Yuvraj Singh was back in the team after the terrible accident which made him to temporarily quit cricket. Though Yuvraj bowls decent spells, he is not considered to be a regular bowler. This world cup might be an opportunity for him to prove his bowling skills to the world and BCCI.

There is only one threat for Yuvraj Singh. If there is any injury before or during the World Cup, he will be in need of rehabilitation and a break again from international cricket.

Indian team expects an anchoring role from Yuvraj in this World Cup, since the team has more first timers and the middle order needs to be strengthened. Yuvraj Singh must provide consistent support for the team during the slog overs by boosting the run rate.

Some nuts about Yuvraj singh's Cricket Career

Batting and fielding averages
class	mat	inns	no	runs	hs	ave	bf	sr	100	50	4s	6s	ct	st
Tests	19	29	4	830	122	33.20	1568	52.93	2	3	118	5	21	0
ODIs	162	146	21	4317	139	34.53	5048	85.51	7	25	457	48	54	0
Bowling averages
class	mat	balls	runs	wkts	bbi	bbm	ave	econ	sr	4	5	10
Tests	19	144	90	1	1/25	1/25	90.00	3.75	144.00	0	0	0
ODIs	162	1945	1590	42	4/6	4/6	37.85	4.90	46.30	1	0	0

Stats Source : CricInfo.com

Other Batsmen to watch

Rahul Dravid : Inzamam-ul-Huq : Yuvaraj Singh : Ricky Ponting : Adam Gilchrist : Mark Boucher : Herschelle Gibbs : Brian Lara : Ram Naresh Sarwan : Stephen Fleming : Mathew Hayden : Kumara Sangakarra : Mahela Jeyawardana : Younis Khan : Yousuf Yohanna