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Home  » Cricket » Yuvraj looking to bat up the order

Yuvraj looking to bat up the order

By Harish Kotian in London
June 14, 2009 09:45 IST
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Yuvraj Singh on Saturday threw a clear hint that he would prefer a promotion in the batting order, but said he would leave it to his captain or coach to decide his position in the team's line-up.

The left-hander played a magnificent knock of 67 from 43 deliveries against the West Indies on Friday and many believe he could do with a promotion to number three in Sunday's do-or-die Super Eights match of the ICC World Twenty20 against England.

"It is the captain and coach who decide where I bat in the line-up. As any batsman, I would like to bat up the order, but it is important it is about the team and not about where you want to bat.

"If somebody is getting the runs then it is very important to carry on the form for the team. But the team comes first and what the team wants I will do that first," he said, at Lord's.

India's vice-captain also admitted he would draw inspiration from his feat of hitting six sixes against England pacer Stuart Broad in the last tournament in South Africa in 2007.

"Yes, hitting six sixes is always a special memory, especially when you get hit for five. Yeah, that [knock] will be in the back of my mind but, as I said, it is a new game," he said.

Yuvraj said the pressure of retaining the trophy is also proving to be a factor for the team, but the boys are confident of a good showing against the hosts on Sunday.

"As defending champions there is always pressure, because you want to defend your title. But T20 is a very unpredictable format and anything can happen. As you saw, Australia went out and they are the top team in the world. The thing is that it is a do-or-die situation for us. But we have done well against England recently and we are very confident about tomorrow's game," he said.

He also seemed thrilled at the idea of resuming his rivalry with England's star batsman Kevin Pietersen, who had once labelled the left-armer a "pie-chucker".

"If I get a chance I would like to bowl to him again and I am sure he would like to call me pie-chucker again. But he is a great batsman and we always look forward to playing each other. We do always spur each other on," he said.

Yuvraj also came out strongly in support of captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who has struggled in the tournament so far.

"Just because Dhoni has not scored in one match it does not mean he is a bad batsman and he cannot score in the future. He has performed well for India and played a lot of great innings for the country. I am sure that once he crosses 10 or 15 runs he will once again win matches for India."

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