Reports: Yuvraj Singh keen on cracking BBL deal

Former Indian cricketer Yuvraj Singh is keen to become the first Indian cricketer to play in the Big Bash League (BBL). The 38-year-old has already announced his retirement and has taken part in a number of overseas leagues, including the GT20 Canada and the T10 League. The upcoming BBL season gets underway on Thursday, December 3.

Yuvraj’s keenness to play the BBL surfaced after former Australian cricketer Shane Watson said that inclusion of Indian players would be “incredible” for the competition. Though the WBBL has featured Indian players like Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues and Harmanpreet Kaur, the BBL is yet to see an Indian cricketer taking part.

Yuvraj Singh trying his very best

The BCCI doesn’t give its players no-objection certificates for obvious reasons until and unless they announce their retirement. Yuvraj, who last played for India back in 2017, is known to be actively looking for a BBL stint.

His manager Jason Warne of W Sports & Media said that Cricket Australia (CA) was interested in finding Yuvraj a club in the upcoming T20 tournament.

“We’re working with CA to try to find him a home,” Warne was quoted as saying on Monday, September 7. As per sources, interest in Yuvraj from BBL clubs has been pretty modest.

Watson reckoned that the injection of Indian players would come as a massive boost for the BBL. Another former Indian cricketer CA would be keen to bring is MS Dhoni, who bid goodbye to international cricket on August 15.

Dhoni is currently a part of the Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League (IPL). “There is a chance but no Indian players have been able to be released in the past to come and play at the [other] T20 tournaments so that’s a big hurdle,” Watson said from Dubai ahead of the upcoming IPL season.

“It would be incredible for them to be able to play in these tournaments. That is the ideal situation. There are so many world-class T20 players in India that aren’t playing for India that could be potentially available to play in the Big Bash and other tournaments around the world. If that’s able to happen, that would make a massive difference,” the veteran added.