Yuvraj Singh, Ashish Nehra: Return of the old guard for India
Yuvraj Singh made a surprising comeback to the Indian ODI and Twenty20 International squad for the upcoming series against England while Ashish Nehra holds on to his spot in the Twenty20 squad.
The Indian selectors sprung a surprise by naming Yuvraj Singh in the ODI and T20I squad for the England series while also including Ashish Nehra and Suresh Raina in the T20I squad. The squad has some young faces, but the inclusion of Yuvraj and Nehra in the team suggests that India is reliant on the old guard.
Yuvraj (35) last played an ODI against South Africa in Centurion 2013. Ashish Nehra (37) played competitive cricket in the 2016 Indian Premier League for Sunrisers Hyderabad. Suresh Raina (30), who missed the New Zealand series due to illness, has come back into the Twenty20 side.
Speaking on the selection of Yuvraj in both ODI and T20I squads, chairman of selectors MSK Prasad said, “Yuvraj was picked due to his fine performances in domestic cricket.”
Yuvraj’s numbers in the 2016/17 Ranji Trophy are impressive. In five games, he scored 672 runs at an average of 84 for Punjab. His highest was a 260 against Baroda at the Feroz Shah Kotla and the knock featured 26 fours and four sixes.
His ODI record against England is fabulous. In 34 ODIs, he has scored 1313 runs at an average of 48.62 with three centuries, all three of them in India.