IPL 2018: Will Kings XI Punjab Drop Yuvraj Singh?

This year’s Indian Premier League (IPL) is an opportunity for Yuvraj Singh to do well and be in contention – to be back in the national reckoning as he will have no other platform (until next domestic season), to perform once the cash-rich Twenty20 league is over.

The veteran batsman, though, has failed to capitalise on the opportunity as the scores of 12, 4 and 20 do tell that he has struggled in the three games so far.

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In the first game, especially, he struggled where he consumed 22 deliveries to score 12.

While other Kings XI Punjab batsmen are looking to go behind the ball right from the start – irrespective of the result – Yuvraj is seeming to take his time to settle in the middle.

The coming matches will be quite crucial for him. However, the couple of failures might see Yuvraj being sidelined from the side.

Eventually, the all-format player Manoj Tiwary is forced to sit out despite a decent season of IPL in 2017.

Tiwary also had a good domestic season and has added a weapon in his bowling.

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Many batsmen found it difficult to spot his mystery off-spin bowling and he could really become an asset for Kings XI Punjab.

However, he might have to wait for few more matches as skipper Ravichandran Ashwin will have to make Yuvraj sit out so as to accommodate Tiwary.

The clock is ticking on Yuvraj Singh and dry innings in the tournament are adding more pressure on him.

Moreover, the southpaw is not on the radar of the franchises now, an indication of which has reflected during two-day mega-auction in January.

Kings XI Punjab was the only franchise to bid for him and it purchased Yuvraj at his base price of INR 2 Crore.

Surely, he has to come up with good performances soon as dry run could also see the franchise releasing him before the start of the next season too.

Kings XI Punjab will be facing Sunrisers Hyderabad in next home tie on Thursday, where Yuvraj Singh will have an opportunity to do well owing to his home ground.

Should he perform well, it will keep him in the playing XI while the team management might think for Tiwary in the opposite case.