'Yuvraj reminds me of Gary Sobers'

NEW DELHI: Yuvraj Singh may be disappointed that he has been dropped from the Test squad for the Sri Lanka tour but the left-hander has reasons to smile: Pakistan's great Hanif Mohammad has compared Yuvraj with none other than the West Indies legend Gary Sobers.

Hanif compared Yuvraj's style of play with the former West Indies captain and all-rounder.

Cricket's original little master Hanif said he was a big fan of Sobers. When he saw Yuvraj hit six sixes in an over off England's Stuart Broad in the Twenty20 World Championship, flashes of the West Indian legend sparked in his mind.

Sobers is among the few cricketers who has hit six sixes in an over in a first class match.  

"I saw him (Yuvraj) hitting those six sixes against England. For a moment, I thought that Sobers was batting," Hanif said.

The 71-year-old former Pakistan captain said that he loves to watch Yuvraj bat.

"He is so talented. His (Yuvraj) approach to a delivery, his adjustment to the ball reminds me of Sobers. I am a great fan of Sobers and Yuvraj's style is similar to Sobers."

Known for dour batting, Hanif still holds the record for the longest-ever test innings when he stayed at the crease for 970 minutes for his 337 against the West Indies in Bridgetown in 1957-58.

Hanif appeared in 55 Tests and also recorded the highest first-class innings of 499 until it was surpassed by Brian Lara's 501 in 1994.

Hanif was recently honoured with the Pakistani Lifetime Achievement award at the Asian Cricket Award ceremony in Karachi July 4. Incidentally, Yuvraj too got a special award, for his six sixers in an over, at the same function.

"I met Yuvraj and told him that I saw those six sixes," Hanif said.

It cannot be more inspiring for Yuvraj, who is struggling to find his feat in Test cricket since his debut against New Zealand in October 2003. The latest jolt came when he was left out from the squad for the three-Test matches in Sri Lanka.

Yuvraj made a brilliant comeback to Test scoring 169 against Pakistan last year but was woefully out-of-form in the four away Tests in Australia and the three Tests against South Africa at home which prompted the selectors to drop him.

The left-handed batsman has been in and out of the team playing just 23 Tests scoring 1,050 runs at an average of around 33.