Bowl to bat well, Sachin tells Yuvraj

Tendulkar spent a great deal of time in the nets with the left-hander before the start of the three-day game in order to put the exciting stroke-player back on track. Yuvraj has been an utter failure in the series so far, struggling to last a dozen deliveries, and Tendulkar believed his advice to the left-hander can no longer wait.

Tendulkar, it is now known, wanted Yuvraj to bowl a fair deal in the nets and in side games in order to gauge the bounce on Australian pitches. Yuvraj still has not come to terms with the conditions in Australia and Tendulkar offered a lot of advice for him to overcome the problem.

The Punjab batsman has been advised not to go for his shots as soon as he comes to the crease on these wickets. Tendulkar apparently has told him that even he, in 1991-92, allowed a lot of deliveries to go before starting to play aggressive shots.

The veteran cricketer has also noticed that Yuvraj’s front leg is going too much across towards covers which is leaving him locked at the point of playing shots. The option to thrust his front leg forward towards mid-off has been suggested. This particular problem of Yuvraj has been accentuated against the spinners. Yuvraj has also been identified to be showing a tendency to jab at deliveries, rather than flowing into his shots. It is not allowing him the necessary control on his strokes.

Tendulkar’s advice apparently did not quite work for Yuvraj who suffered another failure in the first innings of the three-day game against the ACT XI yesterday. Yuvraj made just two and when it came to bowling, sent down only five overs in yet another listless display.