Yuvraj Singh likely to play against West Indies

Yuvraj Singh, expected to be out of action till the World Cup, could make a return of sorts as early as the home one-day series against West Indies. Yuvraj, who has been training in Mumbai in the Bandra Kurla Complex, at the same time as the finals of the Vijay Hazare Trophy, the zonal under-19 tournament, could make a comeback as soon as the second half of the four-ODI home series against West Indies.

"He is in the final phase of rehabilitation. He is doing light fielding, functional agility, netting," Mithun Joshi, sports physiotherapist and son of the board's medical expert Dr. Anant Joshi, wrote in a report to the Board of Control for Cricket in India. "It is likely he will be able to return to light Twenty20 style match play by the 19th of this month. He could be with the team for the preparation for the West Indies series and be available to play in the latter part of the one-day series against West Indies, or for the series against Sri Lanka."

Yuvraj had recently practiced against a bowling machine, and was doing light exercises. He has been out of cricket since the middle of the Champions Trophy, when he tore a ligament in the knee in a pre-match training session at Mohali, while playing kho-kho, a traditional Indian game, as part of warm ups.

"There was never any pain," an audibly elated Yuvraj told Cricinfo over the phone from Mumbai. "From the beginning it was never a question of pain. It was bone bruising because of the ligament tear. Obviously there is discomfort in using crutches, wearing a brace but it was not about pain.

"It's hard to come back so quickly without surgery. I have really worked very hard over the last 40 days," said Yuvraj. "The problem is that it plays on you mentally, especially when fielding. You're wondering whether you might get a recurrence of the injury and that could put you out for a long time."

Assessing his own fitness, Yuvraj concurred strongly with the doctors' judgement. "Actually in plain terms I'm about 90-95% fit at the moment," he said. "But it's always different being in a match situation. It's just about getting some match practice under the belt. Hopefully I can play three or four practice matches, and then if all goes well declare myself fit and eligible for national selection."