Sunrisers Hyderabad sweat over Yuvraj Singh's fitness

With just five days to go for their opening clash against Royal Challengers Bangalore in Bengaluru, Sunrisers Hyderabad are sweating over the availability of star player Yuvraj Singh, who was bought for Rs 7 cr at the IPL auction.

Yuvraj twisted his ankle in a crucial World T20 game against Australia on March 27 and was ruled out of the tournament. Sunrisers officials are tight-lipped about the development and indications are the southpaw could miss a couple of games. Yuvraj will also not be available for a scheduled press conference on Thursday (April 7) afternoon to unveil the new signings.

Yuvraj shared a picture on Instagram on Tuesday where he is seen lifting weights despite wearing a plaster on his right leg. The extent of his recovery and fitness is still a matter of speculation and that's a worrying factor for his new franchisee.

When contacted, team mentor VVS Laxman told TOI, "It won't be proper to say anything at this stage as we don't have any confirmation about Yuvraj. We are hoping to have a clear picture by tomorrow afternoon. We are hopeful that he will be with us from the first game itself."

SRH are hoping Yuvraj's presence will bolster the middle order, a problem area last season.