Mystery surrounds Yuvraj’s illness

On the eve of India’s crucial tie against Sri Lanka, skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni had ruled out Yuvraj Singh since he had “dengue.” Minutes after, team manager Ranjib Biswal had said it was “mild dengue and Yuvraj was advised four to five days’ rest.

In such a backdrop, it was astonishing to see Yuvraj getting off the team bus as the Indian team arrived at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium two hours before the start. Moreover, the prince even went for a stroll on the outfield as the team started its warm-up.

If a player is suffering an ailment as serious as dengue fever, shouldn’t he be resting at the hotel instead of coming to the stadium? Or was there more to it?

In the evening, a Sri Lanka Cricket official informed that the doctor who had examined Yuvraj on Sunday had “suspected” dengue. It was also learnt that Yuvraj’s blood samples were collected on Monday and sent to Colombo for analysis.

Though it was not clear when the reports will be available to the team, the team management stuck to their stand. “As far as the team is concerned, he has dengue,” a management member said in the evening.

The ‘hole’ story

When a light drizzle halted play after Tillakaratne Dilshan’s dismissal in the first innings, the groundstaff swung into action both on and off the field.

While the covers were pulled on the square, a member of the ground staff climbed on the top of the giant scoreboard to replace the Indian Tricolour.

While the national flags of Sri Lanka and New Zealand were fluttering incessantly, the tricolour did not move an inch for a while before it was observed that the Indian flag had a hole on it.

But the local organisers quickly swung into action and replaced the Indian flag. – (The hindustan Times)