The Punjab Cricket Association’s (PCA) secretary, Puneet Bali, has requested legendary Indian cricketer Yuvraj Singh to come out of retirement and represent Punjab again in the upcoming season. Bali is yet to receive a response from Yuvraj.
Punjab has lost the services of their key players in the last couple of seasons, namely Manan Vohra and Barinder Sran who now play for Chandigarh. Also, Jiwanjot Singh and Taruwar Kohli made a move to Chattisgarh and Meghalaya, respectively.
Bali reckoned that Yuvraj’s heaps of experience would help mould the Punjab team for the future. Moreover, Yuvraj has to seek BCCI’s permission to come out of retirement and play first-class cricket again.
Amid the 2019 ODI World Cup in England, Yuvraj surprised one and all, calling it quits from all forms of the game.
“These boys were all undergoing sessions with our physios and trainers to prepare [for the season]. Yuvraj initiated sessions with these boys while he was in Chandigarh. Over the last couple of seasons, we’ve lost players to other states, many of our players to Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh and Himachal. So we felt a player of Yuvraj’s experience and calibre could lend a lot of value and inspire the youngsters,” Bali told Espncricinfo.
“The request I made was for him to consider playing all formats. But if he comes back to and says, he’s available only for limited-overs cricket, for some reason, that will be fine too. I’m looking forward to hear from him soon. But as such, he’s been working hard with the boys,” he added.
Further, Bali introduced a new scheme of remuneration and bonuses for Punjab cricketers based on their performances in Ranji cricket.
“Essentially, we want to reward those who’ve performed in the Ranji Trophy, so that is first criteria,” Bali explained.
Punjab captain Mandeep Singh welcomed the new move from PCA with open-arms, which would help in the player’s ‘financial stability’.
“This will motivate players, especially those who don’t have IPL contracts. This is a welcome step, it will provide a lot of players financial stability,” said Mandeep.
