Yuvraj Singh could be back in the Indian domestic circuit early next year, after being named in Punjab's 30-man list of probables for the 2020-21 Syed Mushtaq Ali (T20) Trophy, to be played in January.
Singh, now 39, had announced his retirement from international - and IPL - cricket in June last year, but was requested by Puneet Bali, the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) secretary, last month to come out of retirement and play for Punjab in all formats. As things stand, with Singh having taken part in the Global T20 Canada and the Abu Dhabi T10 tournaments since retirement, his participation for Punjab will have to be cleared by the BCCI, because the board considers players to have officially retired before providing them NOCs for overseas leagues.
A final decision is expected after December 20, the deadline date set by BCCI for state associations to finalise the transfers and granting no-objection certificates.
Bali confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that Yuvraj had been training with the Punjab squad and would perform the role of the mentor-cum-player once BCCI gave the green signal. "No he hasn't been (named in the squad) because we are just waiting for the nod from the BCCI to come yet," Bali said. "He has been selected in the camp, but it is subject to approval and confirmation from BCCI."
The BCCI plans to host the national T20 championship from January 10 to January 31, with the venues to be announced in a few days' time, and the teams would need to assemble at the respective bio-secure hubs across the country by January 2.
Sran returns to Punjab fold too
Barinder Sran, the 28-year-old left-arm seamer who played six ODIs and two T20Is in 2016, has also been included in the probables' list, after having switched to Chandigarh last year.
Prior to the start of the last season, Sran finalised his transfer to Chandigarh after being left out of Punjab's Vijay Hazare Trophy (50-over competition) squad. At the time, he had said that he did not want to "waste the entire season" because of the snub, and opted for the switch instead.
Punjab have lost a number of key players to other states in recent years. Among them are Manan Vohra, who had moved to Chandigarh like Sran, Jiwanjot Singh (Chhattisgarh) and Taruwar Kohli (Mizoram).
Punjab probables: Mandeep Singh, Yuvraj Singh, Abhishek Sharma, Salil Arora, Gitansh Khera, Ramandeep Singh, Sanvir Singh, Karan Kaila, Rahul Sharma, Krishan Alang, Sandeep Sharma, Arshdeep Singh, Ikjot Singh, Naman Dhir, Abhishek Gupta, Himanshu Satyawan, Gurkeerat Singh, Anmolpreet Singh, Prabhsimran Singh, Nehal Wadhera, Anmol Malhotra, Aarush Sabharwal, Abhinav Sharma, Harpreet Brar, Mayank arkande, Baltej Singh, Siddharth Kaul, Barinder Sran, Gurnoor Singh, Harjas, Abhijit Garg, Kunwar Pathak
Sreesanth finds place in Kerala longlist
Sreesanth has moved a step closer to a return to competitive cricket after being named in Kerala's 26-strong probables' list for the Mushtaq Ali trophy, PTI reported.
Thirty-seven-year-old Sreesanth, whose BCCI ban for spot-fixing ended earlier this year, had resumed training in June, including with the Kerala Under-23 team and a few senior players at a KCA facility in Ernakulam.
Giving Sreesanth company in the list of probables were star players like Sanju Samson, Sachin Baby, Jalaj Saxena, Robin Uthaapa and Basil Thampi.