Former India all-rounder Yuvraj Singh has been named in Punjab’s 30-strong list of probables for next month’s Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament while fast bowler S Sreesanth on Tuesday moved closer to a return to competitive cricket.
Sreesanth, who has served his time away from the game after the spot-fixing episode in the Indian Premier League, has been named in a 26-strong probables list by Kerala.
The retired Yuvraj, however, is still awaiting BCCI clearance to return to domestic cricket while Sreesanth’s ban ended in September this year.
Yuvraj had participated in the Global T20 league in Canada after his retirement. However, the BCCI’s rule says that cricketers active in the Indian domestic circuit aren’t allowed to participate in the overseas T20 leagues. Hence, he needs clearance to play again.
The star of India’s 2011 World Cup-winning campaign, Yuvraj had announced his retirement last June but he decided to resume playing for his home state after being approached by Punjab Cricket Association secretary Puneet Bali.
The 39-year-old left-handed batsman, who has played 304 ODIs, 40 Tests and 58 T20Is for India, has been training at the PCA stadium in Mohali and also posted a video of his preparations on social media.
The 37-year-old Sreesanth, who was banned by the BCCI over his alleged involvement in spot-fixing in the IPL, features alongside Sanju Samson, Sachin Baby, Jalaj Saxena, Robin Uthaapa and Basil Thampi among others for Kerala. His ban ended earlier in the year but the domestic season was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The pacer, who last represented India in 2011, will take part in a preparatory camp from December 20 to 30, sources said.
Sreesanth, who was part of the triumphant Indian squads in the 2007 World T20 and the 2011 World Cup, was earlier named in one of the squads for a local T20 tournament to be conducted by Kerala Cricket Association in Alappuzha from December 17.
Also named is left-arm seamer Barinder Sran, who was axed from Punjab’s Vijay Hazare Trophy squad leading him to switch to Chandigarh last year. The players will compete in a local tournament in Ludhiana in the build-up to the main event.
The BCCI plans to conduct the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, the national T20 championship, from January 10, the venues for which will be announced later. The tournament will be conducted in bio-secure and teams will have to assemble at their respective bases by January 2.
Punjab probables:
Mandeep Singh, Yuvraj Singh, Abhishek Sharma, Salil Arora, Gitansh Khera, Ramandeep Singh, Sanvir Singh, Karan Kaila, Rahul Sharma, Krishan Alang, Sandeep Sharma, Arshdeep Singh, Ikjot Singh, Naman Dhir, Abhishek Gupta, Himanshu Satyawan, Gurkeerat Singh, Anmolpreet Singh, Prabhsimran Singh, Nehal Wadhera, Anmol Malhotra, Aarush Sabharwal, Abhinav Sharma, Harpreet Brar, Mayank arkande, Baltej Singh, Siddharth Kaul, Barinder Sarn, Gurnoor Singh, Harjas, Abhijit Garg, Kunwar Pathak.
Kerala probables:
Robin Uthappa, Jalaj Saxena, Sanju Samson, Vishnu Vinod, Rahul P, Mohammed Azarudeen, Rohan Kunnumel, Sachin Baby, Salman Nizar, Basil Thampi, S Sreesanth, M D Nideesh, K M Asif, Basil NP, Akshay Chandran, Sijomon Joseph, Midhun S, Abhishek Mohan, Vatsal Govind, Anand Joseph, Vinoop Manoharan, Midhun PK, Sreeroop, Akshay KC, Rojith, Arun M.
With PTI Inputs