With Michael Clarke injured,Yuvraj Singh likely to lead Pune Warriors

Yuvraj had led the Sahara-owned franchise during their maiden IPL appearance in 2011,where they finished second from bottom. While Sourav Ganguly had held the reins during Pune’s disapponting campaign last year,Clarke had emerged as Pune’s preferred choice to lead the team this time around.

Incidentally,if the Australian captain’s back and hamstring had held up,he just might have been in store for a rather staggering change in fortune. From leading Australia in their most disastrous Test campaign in 43 years to being offered $2 million to lead the Warriors,for whom he averaged 16.33 in six matches last season.

With Clarke advised seven to eight weeks of rest,young Sri Lankan skipper Angelo Mathews had initially emerged as the front-runner. That is before the Tamil Nadu government threw another spanner in the works by banning Sri Lankan players from playing in Chennai during the IPL.

“Clarke’s withdrawal has messed up our plans and the team combination. If the Chennai issue hadn’t propped up,Angelo was confirmed as skipper. But the match against the Super Kings is our seventh and it could well be a do or die match. We don’t want to take chances,” said a source while adding that discussions were already on with Yuvraj and that the management had all but convinced him to captain the Warriors again.

The Pune outfit did have another option up their sleeve in the form of former New Zealand captain Ross Taylor,who made the move here from Delhi Daredevils. But Taylor and the captain’s arm-band have had a frosty relationship of late after he was inceremoniously sacked following the Black Cap’s unsuccessful tour to Sri Lanka late last year.

And it’s unlikely that he would want to take up the responsibility of leading a team he’s never represented before and one that has the worst record in IPL history with just eight wins out of 30 matches—a success rate of 27.58 per cent.

“We were considering three options in Yuvraj,Ross and Angelo. But now Yuvraj is our main candidate,” the source added.

Assembly polls changes schedule

New Delhi: The Indian Premier League re-jigged the fixtures of the high-profile tournament,making changes in the dates and timings of some of the matches,including the ones to be held in Bangalore on May 4 and 6,which were rescheduled owing to the Assembly elections in Karnataka.

The match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kings XI Punjab,earlier scheduled to be held in Bangalore on May 4,will now be played on May 14,while RCB’s home game against Sunrisers Hyderabad,which was slated for May 6,has been advanced to April 9. Kings XI Punjab’s match against Delhi Daredevils,earlier scheduled for April 23 in Mohali,has been shifted to Dharamsala on May 16,while KXIP’s May 16 fixture against Royal Challengers Bangalore at Dharamsala will now be held in Mohali on May 6.

Delhi Daredevils’ home match against KXIP,earlier scheduled for May 13,has been rescheduled for April 23. The following changes have been made:

* KXIP vs DD — shifted from April 23 (8:00 pm,Mohali) to May 16 (8:00 pm,Dharamsala)

* SH vs DD — stays on May 4 but moves from 4:00 pm to 8:00 pm in Hyderabad

* RCB vs KXIP — shifted from May 4 (8:00 pm,Bengaluru) to May 14 (4:00 pm,Bengaluru)

* RCB vs SH — shifted from May 6 (8:00 pm,Bengaluru) to April 9 (4:00 pm,Bengaluru)

* DD vs KXIP — shifted from May 13 (4:00 pm,Delhi) to April 23 (8:00 pm,Delhi)

* KKR vs PWI — shifted from May 14 (8:00 pm,Ranchi) to May 15 (4:00 pm,Ranchi)

* KXIP vs RCB — shifted from May 16 (4:00 pm,Dharamsala) to May 6 (8:00 pm,Mohali)

* CSK vs DD — shifted from May 16 (8:00 pm,Dharamsala) to May 14 (8:00 pm,Dharamsala)

* RCB vs CSK — shifted from May 19 (4:00 pm,Bengaluru) to May 18 (8:00 pm,Bengaluru)

* PWI vs DD — shifted from May 18 (8:00 pm,Pune) to May 19 (4:00 pm,Pune).