Yuvraj Singh plays his first practice game in eight months

New Delhi: From 27th June, when Yuvraj had just started taking baby steps towards his comeback, the southpaw has come a long way.

His tweet on Wednesday said, “Finally played my first practice game after 8 months! Got 47 of 70 balls bowled 5 overs fielded 30 overs! Not bad for a start !!”

When he had just started training, it was not at all a rosy path. In his second week of the rehabilitation programme at the National Cricket Academy, practice and training schedules were being worked out, diet plans were being designed and waiting media contingents were being dealt with.

Yuvraj Singh, who started training after recuperating from a rare germ cell cancer, was on 18th July named in India’s 30-member list of probables for the September-October World Twenty20 Championships in Sri Lanka.

The Indian Cricket Board had also decided to recommend recently retired stalwart Rahul Dravid for the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award and Yuvraj Singh, the player of the World Cup, for the Arjuna Award.

Yuvraj Singh resumed his training on 27th June after the successful treatment of a rare germ cell cancer but the progress was nothing close to dramatic back then.

Yuvraj, who played a crucial role in India’s World Cup win last year, is targeting the World T20 in September for his comeback, and thus rehabilitating at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore.

“It’s a big achievement for me hitting the nets. I felt happy, really good to be in the nets,” he had said following his first hit at the nets after recuperating fully.

But the flamboyant batsman added that a few minutes of training had him tired. “It was not a bad session, for the first time after about six months. I got tired after about 15 minutes but I am sure every day will be a better day,” he told reporters then.