Sachin has tips for Yuvi

From Indian films to batting tips to having his mother by his side, Yuvraj Singh is trying his best to turn around his sagging career.

The batting prince of India’s next generation of cricketers, Yuvraj is finding the ground slipping fast under his feet. The coronation is nowhere near; the banishment after an innings or two is more of a possibility.

His mother Shabnam was with him in Australia for the last eight days. She wouldn’t be around to see his 200th match, the one against Sri Lanka here on the 19th of this month.

Yuvraj’s dismissals in this series, flicking or driving into the hands of short extra cover or short midwicket, has been a norm. Now advice has come his way from none other than Sachin Tendulkar.

Tendulkar has advised Yuvraj to have a round-handed top grip on his bat: ostensibly it would give him better control on his top hand and stop shots from going into the air.

It’s an interesting advice full of common sense but no less significant is Tendulkar’s observation about his stance.

Apparently Yuvraj’s left shoulder is sagging in his batting stance as he awaits the bowler to deliver. In Tendulkar’s opinion, it is because he is expecting every delivery to be a bouncer.

This notion of bowlers testing him out with short-pitched stuff is keeping Yuvraj pinned back on his backfoot. Consequently, he is late in coming on to the front foot and not always in full control of his drives.

Tendulkar wants Yuvraj to correct this anomaly. He feels Yuvraj has no reason to be overtly concerned by bouncers.