Over-rated cricketers - #1 Yuvraj Singh

In the first of an occasional series, we at the Reverse Sweep will name and shame those cricketers that we believe to be massively over-rated.

We start with Yuvraj Singh, the Indian and Kings XI Punjab 'all-rounder' who somehow gets regularly bracketed with the great Indian batsmen of the modern era; namely Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman and Virender Sehwag. In our opinion, Yuvraj is not fit to tie their bootlaces.

Admittedly, Yuvraj has some talent and there has been the odd sporadic good innings in test, ODI and T20I cricket - just ask Stuart Broad about the latter after Yuvraj smited six sixes off him during the World T20 in 2007. The innings he played in support of Sachin Tendulkar when India chased down 387 to beat England at Chennai in 2008 was another example, but on the whole he has not justified his talent and inflated ego.

His test career has been disappointing with an average under 36 and only three hundreds in his 33 tests. When you consider the fact that most of these tests have been played on the batting paradises of the subcontinent that average is only worth about 30 to an English or Australian player. By sheer coincidence that is what Graeme Swann and Nathan Hauritz average.

Yuvraj's record in ODI is better with 12 hundreds in his 250 ODI (at just over 37) and he has a good strike rate of 88. But it is hardly the record of a world-beater and another point for the prosecution in the accusation that he is nothing more than an average player. His T20I record is the best of the lot, with a strike rate of 161 and an average of 39. But just ask Kings XI Punjab fans if they think that Yuvraj is worthy of his reputation following his on and off-field performances this season. More of that later.

Kevin Pietersen once labelled Yuvraj a 'pie-chucker' with the ball and then promptly got out to him. But the stats seem to back KP up. Eight test wickets at 54, 82 ODI wickets at over 40 and only five T20I wickets hardly puts him in the Shane Warne category, or even Marcus North's for that matter.

But no-one rates Yuvraj more highly than Yuvraj himself. And it is that arrogance that made him our first 'Over-rated Cricketer' and also contributed to his dire season with Kings XI Punjab. He appears to have an ego the size of Jupiter and has clearly been influenced by the bollywood style celebrity cult currently surrounding Indian cricket thanks to the. But he is not as good as he seems to think he is (although that would be impossible) and if the numerous rumours are true, has unsettled KXIP to such an extent that he was reportedly the main reason for their dismal season. Apparently he sulked about not having the captaincy, appeared disinterested and unfit, and ruined the karma created by King Kumar.

If even some of this was true, Yuvraj needs to buck his ideas up and look to Tendulkar, Dravid and MS Dhoni as examples of how to cope with fame and handle yourself in front of an adoring public. Only then will Yuvraj justify his talent and lose the over-rated tag. 

Comments

[zeek]

booo ... yuvraj is one of the best out there ! stop letting your biases cloud your judgement

[The Reverse Sweep]

Zeek, don't get me wrong. I am not saying that Yuvraj isn't talented and he can certainly hit a cricket ball a long way. I just don't think he does it consistently enough to be bracketed with Sachin, Dravid, Laxman, Dhoni et al. He also seems to suffer the footballer syndrome of thinking he is better than he actually is.

[Aashish]

Mr editor,you simply write anything you want to write.I think you are over rated writer.Let us compare yuvraj singh with your relative sourav gaungly who you consider as great indian batsman.2 out of his 12 centuries were scored against weaker opositions like zim and bangladesh, while your dada scored 8 centuries against kenya,namibia,zimbabwe and bangladesh.So 36% of his centuries were scored against these teams as compared to yuvraj's 16%.Yuvraj scores at a strike rate of 89 whereas your overrated gaungly scored at snarls pace of 73.

Tell me who is over rated?Yuvraj or Sourav

Did sourav win any world cup ?Who has world cup win in his kitty?Your selfish gaungly who would score a century and still India lost that match.....

Against good teams like aus he averaged just 23 and had strike rate of 67.I agree even yuvi has average of just 27 but his strike rate is good even against them,86.

If you want to compare test stats then we will do it after yuvi retires.And if yuvi is a bad test player then even gaungly was no better.Rahul and sachin were the major contributors.

Who the hell cares about his IPL Stats(that is tournament for just fun nothing else) ,if he wins matches for INDIA.Your gaungly has done any better for his IPL team having strike rates of 100 almost every time.Yuvraj atleast has won some games for his side and under his captaincy kings reached semi finals.Gaungly has been unable to do this,and i dont think kkr can enter semis till his exit.

Tell me now who is over rated.I hope this was your last article on yuvraj singh.I simply got u exposed.

[Rushabh]

I agree Yuvi is over-rated batsmen. He is not a test player at all, not for country like India. He may get a spot in England easily though. ;-) His average easily indicates that he hasn't been as consistent as he should be but sometimes averages don't tell the whole story. He is an impact player and has helped India get out of a jam many times mostly in ODIs and T20s. There have been whole series where he has been dominant and without him we would have lost 3-0. Combined this with his great fielding and catching and occasionally helpful bowling he is a good impact player that makes things happen.

[The Reverse Sweep]

Fair point Rushabh on Yuvi's record as an impact player in the ODI format. He has certainly done well enough against England (you are also right that he would probably get in the England side!). But as a test player, his record is poor and when you consider India also has the likes of Raina, Vijay, Sharma and especially Kohli sitting on the sidelines, Yuvraj's tenure in the test side may not last too much longer

[harikrishna patel]

biased reporting by a faltu editor mr reverse sweep.states do not have more importance in cricket.if you go by states or averages than you probably do not know much about cricket.cricket is a game of impact players. yuvi is an impact player.your reporting is of third class level.any way every one has right to express their views .but you are a dumb fellow.

[Aashish]

Winning is most important, and whenever yuvi scores India wins.Mr editor i think you have started following cricket since IPL came into pitcure.Feel sorry for your limited knowledge.This is why India has so many regional political parties because people like u support them.For you tournament like IPL is of prime importance.Players according to you should give much more importance to IPL rather than country.Last but not the least it is not easy to come out of injuries.If u had experienced fractured hand or feet then u must be knowing how hard it is........................

By the way stop watching IPL and daily sops .Watch world cup where yuvi is giving ppl like u a befitting reply.

[Aashish]

Short pitch stuff ?????Raina in a test match???????Again lol.

[The Reverse Sweep]

Aashish, I can assure you that we don't regard the IPL as the pre-eminent tournament in cricket. Far from it in fact. No, the pre-eminent format in cricket and the best examination of a cricketer is test cricket. And Yuvraj has been found wanting at that level. Stats are not everything agreed, but three centuries in 33 tests tells you all you need to know. At the highest level, Yuvraj has not justified his talent just as other talented cricketers like Graeme Hick and Mark Ramprakash before him. At the ODI level, I agree that Yuvraj is an important player for India and his ability as an impact player has helped them win several matches in that format. But our original argument that Yuvraj has a) not justified his talent at the highest level, b) is not worthy of comparison with the likes of Sachin, Dravid, Laxman and Sehwag, and c) is not anywhere near as good as he thinks he is stands.

[The Reverse Sweep]

Maybe Raina would be found wanting at test level. Maybe he struggles aginst the short-pitched ball. But until he is a given a chance in the test side, who knows? In our humble opinion, it is Kohli who should be elevated to the test side above Yuvraj in any case.

[Aashish]

I won sir, i made u remove gaungly from ur elite list............I have no probs with Sachin,Dravid being regarded greats....But I cant bear gaungly,he never led from the front.Dhoni always leads from the front,in tough situations.Gaungly was a good captain but never contributed to the team in crunch situations.One thing i like about dhoni and yuvraj are that they are selfless cricketers,they dont just make centuries for their personal goals.Each time they do it India wins.Your gaungly would score century in 49 th or 50 th over.But these players will do it much earlier.

Regarding tests yuvi still has to prove, i agree....His career is still not over.........

[The Reverse Sweep]

Shall we call it a draw Aashish? You persuaded me to remove Ganguly from the list including Sachin, Dravid, Laxman and Sehwag. And I managed to get your agreement at least on Yuvi's test record. We also agree on the fact that Dhoni is an excellent captain - perhaps India's best ever?

[Aashish]

Yes, we shall call it a draw......I agree yuvi has an indifferent test record,just because of his weakness outside off stump.Another reason is he was in and out of the team too often and pressure was too much to take a test spot with sachin,dravid,laxman and sehwag.But he will be an asset to the test team as well if he can focus and feel relaxed.His committment has been never short of hundred percent.Once he retires you will come to know what a huge role he played in Indian middle order in Odis and T20s.

Every individual has his strengths and weaknesses.Everybody cant do things like god(sachin) does.....If dravid and laxman were excellent at test level then they were not so good in odi's and T20s.Yuvi is an excellent odi and T20 player,at test level he is not so good.So that does not mean that his achievement is smaller than others.

Anywayz i enjoyed talkin to u becauz i agreed on ur point and u agreed on my point.So final outcome was that we made an excellent assessment of Indian Cricket team..

[supra for boy]

Super cute! My little man would look so stylin' in those!