How many innings has he played since that 169, just a few months back? Just short of 10 I guess. If a batsman of Yuvraj's caliber can't score after 10 innings, then that caliber itself is in question. Or maybe the reason is deeper than we think. I can't think of any other reason other than the ball losing its shine, bowlers tiring, ball coming on to the bat nicely, field spread out..these are all reasons for getting into form, by the way.

Well, chaps, it is time for the savants of cricket, the daily pundits, blog-rollers, columnists, analysts, commentators, politicians and opposition players to stop rationalizing Yuvraj's unexplainable loss of batting form…and focus on a lateral reasoning approach. Close your eyes, take a deep breath and repeat the following sacred syllables - Om Shanti Om. Feel a wave of peace and tranquility…as if you are swept by the waves standing by the Sydney harbor. Do you see the picture? I can see it quite clearly. It is that of a beautiful woman. It is said by the ancient ones that a beautiful woman inspires a man. In this case, it inspired two men. These two men happened to be best friends. One of these two men stepped forward and took the hand of the dazzling beauty thereby sealing his fate (and form). The other one – inconsolable for a while - leaped further ahead and clasped the hand of a country's cricketing destiny. Can a greater drama ever transpire in this age?

Hear me well, my friends, for this is their story:

When this aforementioned love triangle was playing itself out, one day, the goddess of wisdom appeared before Mahendra Singh Dhoni with extended hands. It was quite similar to the legend of Tenali Raman to whom Kali had one day appeared before and offered him one of two boons extending to him the sweet curd of wisdom in the right hand and the sour curds of wealth in the left. Of course, Tenali Raman grabbed both and gulped them down quickly before Kali had time to recover. With such lightning -fast reflexes, he would easily be first choice for wicketkeeper today. When the stumped goddess  got angry, he said some cool stuff to charm her and thereafter, was set for the rest of his life.

Likewise, the goddess of wisdom held out two hands to Dhoni: In one hand was the Picture of Deepika Padukone - the epitome of feminine form and loveliness. In the other hand, was the future of Indian Cricket. The wisdom goddess posed the same query to him as Kali had many eons ago: "Choose, but one - the most beautiful woman you will ever have or the most successful career you will ever have. You cannot take both." Dhoni took some time to ponder and the Goddess cried "Quickly! This is a buzzer round!" Dhoni grabbed the future of Indian Cricket with his right hand, but before he could do a Tenali, the goddess vanished.

That's because she had an appointment with Yuvraj Singh. Again, same situation. Only this time, she appeared to him as 'Morpheus,' as only a digital projection of a mental self could knock sense into Yuvi's Bhangra brain.

Morpheus held out two hands. On the right hand he held the blue celebrity shagg pill with a logo of Deepika Padukone and some other future starlets still in their teens who he could shagg later. The other left hand held the red pill of class batsmanship - a future of becoming the fulcrum of Indian batting for many years. The Red pill shone with 30 centuries in both forms of the game. Because Yuvi is a left-hander, he used his left hand to grab the blue pill and was about to grab the red pill with his right hand when Morpheus vanished into thin air ( making it "slightly thicker" as Richard Armour would say!)....

All this happened before the Australian tour commenced. Yuvraj's emotions had got the better of him in a decision that required extreme reasoning skills also known throughout the world as common sense.

Dhoni was aware that being the future of Indian cricket would make him utterly shaggable to starlets anyway. He opted for the smart choice. Yuvraj on the other hand...well, it was a bitter pill to swallow. Let's hope it has lodged itself somewhere in his throat and not gone down yet. Or I think it has sunk in, because even as I write this, the Vicest of our Captains has used his cricket bat to shovel out a full length ball to hole out for 6!

It is again time for divine intervention. Or maybe not. Om, Shanti Om…

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