YUVRAJ Singh has been ruled out of the one-day tri-series to be played in Australia following the ongoing Test series. ESPNcricinfo has learnt that he is yet to fully recover from the non-malignant lung tumour that has kept him out of the team since the home ODIs against West Indies.
He has been training at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore, and while his condition is better since the time the tumour was discovered, he does not want to rush back into cricket until his recovery is complete.
Yuvraj hasn’t played ODIs since his Player-of-the-Tournament performance in the World Cup. An injury kept him out of the tour of the West Indies, though, and his contribution to India’s tour of England was cut short by a finger injury sustained during the Nottingham Test.
He returned for the home Tests against West Indies, and was left out of the side for the third Test, in November. He asked the BCCI to not consider him for selection for the home ODIs against West Indies because he wanted time to regain fitness. He was not considered for the Test series in Australia, which India currently trail 2-0.
Yuvraj said he had been troubled by bouts of coughing and vomiting since the World Cup but had ignored the problem during the tournament, “assuming it was due to stress”. Subsequent tests revealed “a golf-ball sized” growth on his left lung. He went through several rounds of medical procedures in order to ascertain the exact nature of the tumour, which was eventually found to be non-malignant.
Yuvraj had been targeting a comeback in the tri-series, also involving Sri Lanka, which kicks off on February 5, but is now unlikely to make a comeback until the Asia Cup in March.