IPL8 is the last comeback chance for India's Famous Five
Cricket
,
Ipl
,
Sports
No comments
With the eighth season of Indian Premier League all season set to start, some of the prominent former India stars will be hoping to make a comeback into the Indian team with a show worth noticing in the IPL.
The likes of Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan, all approaching or past mid 30s, very well know that this could be their last chance of impressing the national selectors.
Delhi Daredevils' new recruits Yuvraj Singh and Zaheer Khan have already made it clear last week that they will do everything to make their stint with the new franchise count. Delhi bagged Yuvraj for a record fee of Rs 16 crore in the auctions and the franchise would be expecting a lot from him.
"It's been a couple of hard years for me since I have come back from my treatment. I am in good shape, I have worked very hard and I have had a good domestic season. I am confident of doing well and hope that things get better from here and I make it back into the [India] team," Yuvraj said.
Zaheer, who will also be a bowling mentor for Delhi, also believes that IPL 8 will be a step in the right direction for him to make a comeback in Indian team.
"I am enjoying playing cricket again. I have been away from cricket for a while now, so just looking forward to get back. Taking one step at a time and IPL is definitely the first step," Zaheer said.
Other high-profile India outcast Sehwag too will be hoping to make his chances count. The dashing opener last played for India in March 2013. Sehwag is expected to open the batting for Kings XI Punjab in IPL 8 and the swashbuckling opener will be trying every bit to make it hard for Indian selectors to not pick him.
Punjab coach Sanjay Bangar also has faith in Sehwag's ability and thinks that he is capable of making a national comeback despite being out of the team for nearly two years now.
"He (Sehwag) is very motivated. He is working a lot on his fitness. He had a decent first class season too. We have been practising match situations and he was outstanding in that. As it is, we all know the kind of cricket he can play," said India's assistant coach and KXIP head coach.
Although the Indian team looks well settled in all formats of the game, you never know when opportunity knocks on your door. With the amount of cricket India play, there is every chance that someone here or there is likely to get injured and that can open the door for these outcasts.
The other opener who is desperate to make India comeback is Kolkata Knight Riders' skipper Gautam Gambhir. The man who helped India win the 2011 ICC World Cup with his gutsy 97 in the final against Sri Lanka has not featured in the team for more than a year now. His leadership quality with KKR last season was tremendous and had a decent run with the bat as well but he needs to show consistency this time around with the bat and show the selectors that he still has lot of quality cricket left in him.
Last but not the least is none other than 'turbanator' Harbhajan Singh. Although it's a tough situation for Bhajji to make a comeback at this stage considering India have the likes of R Ashwin, Axar Patel and Amit Mishra to consider, the Mumbai Indians' spinner should be positive and give all he can in the upcoming season. He needs to take his performance up a fair notches in order to at least give the selectors something to think about.
The eighth season of Indian Premier League kicks off on Wednesday with defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders to face Mumbai Indians.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments
(
Atom
)
No comments :
Post a Comment