Recurring finger injury forces Yuvraj out of the series

Yuvraj Singh has been ruled out for the remaining two matches of the ODI series after the team management realised that he had not fully recovered from a finger injury, reports Nilankur Das.

Yuvraj Singh has been ruled out for the remaining two matches of the ODI series after the team management realised that he had not fully recovered from a finger injury. “He has not recovered fully and has been rested for the remaining two matches,” N.Srinivasan, the Board of Control for Cricket in India secretary, told HT on Tuesday.

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Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni will not be back after serving a two-match ban before the fifth match in Delhi and that would leave the Indian middle-order lacking in experience.

Yuvraj could be doubtful for the initial matches of the tri-series in Bangladesh featuring Sri Lanka as well. The flamboyant left-hander had missed India’s Champions Trophy campaign in September and returned home after fracturing a finger in his right hand during training. This time he injured a finger in his left hand during fielding at the second T20 International against Sri Lanka in Mohali.

Even then the selectors included him in the side for the first two matches. He failed to recover in time for the first ODI in Rajkot and he had caught flu before the match in Nagpur.

With Dhoni banned for the third and fourth ODIs due to slow over-rate, Yuvraj was retained in the squad for the matches in Cuttack and Kolkata. He played in Cuttack on Monday and did not look very comfortable while fielding. He bowled just one over and got 23 runs with the bat.

A fielder of his class hidden at mid-on for most part of the match, Yuvraj kept running around the ball so that he could pick it up with his right hand.

When asked at the post-match media conference on Monday, stand-in skipper Virender Sehwag said: “You will have to ask Yuvraj why he fielded the way he did.”