The Indian team today heaved a sigh of relief with skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni
exuding confidence that Yuvraj Singh will be fit for tomorrow's semifinal
against Australia in the Twenty20 World Championship.
Yuvraj missed the Super Eight encounter against South Africa yesterday
due to an elbow injury, but Dhoni said that the left-hander would replace Dinesh
Kaarthick tomorrow.
"Yuvraj had a problem with his elbow but he should be
fit for the next match and is likely to replace Kaarthick," Dhoni said.
The Indian captain said the decision to leave out Yuvraj for
yesterday's outing was taken just a few minutes before the match.
"We decided at the last moment that we wanted to save
him for the matches ahead. We are a side with a positive frame of mind. For
the sake of the team, considering the long season ahead, we thought it will
be good not to play him in this game." Yuvraj, who hit a record six sixes
in an over of Stuart Broad, was the architect of India's victory in their must-win
game against England and his inclusion will boost Indian batting which
struggled a bit against South Africa.
Dhoni also had a bit of injury scare as he suffered a back
strain and even gave the wicketkeeping job to Kaarthick.
"It was just a strain in the lower back, on the right
hand side. I had the luxury of having Kaarthick in the side, who is a specialist
wicketkeeper. I didn't want to aggravate the injury. I am still smiling and
hopefully it will be fine before the next match," he said.
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