Vengsarkar guns for Yuvraj, demands consistency

New Delhi: After the euphoria of the Commonwealth Bank Series win in Australia, it's time for some introspection. By his own lofty standards Yuvraj Singh had a poor series in Australia and Chairman of Selectors Dilip Vengsarkar has now said the ball is in Yuvraj's own court.

Even as Yuvraj lined up with the rest of his teammates to be felicitated for India's sterling win Down Under he knew his own batting form had been a let down.

Just over 200 runs in nine innings at a shade over 20 runs apiece are hardly the numbers of India's most successful One-Day player of recent times.

And Vengsarkar is not amused. He said, "I am disappointed, as I always had expectations from Yuvraj. He needs to be more consistent."

Yuvraj himself acknowledged after he returned from Australia that his performance had been below par.

"I didn't have much of a good performance but as a team effort it was great and have never played in a team which was as competitive and as aggressive in the field and obviously beating Australia in Australia is a big thing," Yuvraj had said on Thursday.

In fact his troubles started in the Test series itself. Going into the series he was in sparkling form forcing the management to change the batting order completely to play him.

After two Test matches Yuvraj was benched and his Test place is now far from certain.

"His non-performance is something that he has to address himself. He has been in the team for eight years and if he has not established himself as a Test player he has no one but himself to blame," Vengsarkar says.

For some though this is a temporary blip from which Yuvraj will emerge soon.

"Every player has a bad patch where he goes through a lean phase. He (Yuvraj) has to really work hard to cement a place in the Test team but I am sure these are the future players of the Indian team," Lalchand Rajput, India's assistant coach, hoped.

With his knee yet to recover fully, Yuvraj faces a long battle ahead to regain full fitness and the batting form that makes him among the world's most exciting talents.