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Star Indian batsman Yuvraj Singh is unlikely to play in the fifth edition of Indian Premier League due to treatment of his non-malignant lung tumour and might be out of spirited cricket for about six months. According to sources close to the cricketer, Yuvraj is presently in the United States for treatment of his tumour and once it is removed, the recovery process will start.

"Yuvraj went to UK and from there has travelled to the United States for an advanced treatment. The oncologists who will be treating him in the US will take a call on whether he would undergo surgery or any other form of treatment. But that's for sure, he won't be playing in the IPL," said a source. The fifth edition of the IPL starts on April 4 and Yuvraj who captained Pune Warriors in the last edition may only get fit before the home series against New Zealand.

"Yuvraj is an asset and no one would want to see him rush his comeback. He knows that Indian team still needs his services and won't rush his comeback. The recovery might take considerable amount of time, may be upto six months. Therefore, ideally one can expect his comeback when New Zealand are in India, in August this year,". The lung tumour has kept Yuvraj out of action since he played the second Test match in Kolkata back in November last year.

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Rohit Sharma will replace Yuvraj Singh in India's team for the third and final Test against the West Indies, beginning in Mumbai, on November 22.Middle-order batsman Sharma was rewarded for reliable performances in the domestic circuit. In the only change in the squad that won the second Test at the Eden Gardens on Thursday by an innings and 15 runs, the selectors drafted him in place of the Punjab batsman, who scored only 66 runs in the three innings he played in the first two Tests of the ongoing series.

With spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Pragyan Ojha doing well, Harbhajan Singh was again overlooked. Yuvraj scored 23 and 18 in the first Test at the Ferozshah Kotla, while 25 was that entire he could gather on a batting paradise at the Eden Gardens. The leaving out could well mean curtains for the soon-to-be 30 southpaw who won the Player of the Tournament award in the last World Cup. Rohit has been rewarded for back-to-back centuries against Railways and Rajasthan in the Ranji Trophy.

While the elegant batsman scored 175 on a turner at the Karnail Singh Stadium in Delhi, he smashed a quickfire 100 against Rajasthan in Mumbai's last Ranji match. Rohit missed out on a Test cap in 2010 after a freak injury while playing football during practice at the VCA ground in Jamtha an hour before the Test against South Africa could begin. With the No 6 slot vacant, it will be a tussle between Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit.

The squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Virender Sehwag , Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman , Rohit Sharma, Ishant Sharma, R Ashwin, Pragyan Ojha, Umesh Yadav, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Rahul Sharma, Varun Aaron.

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Yuvraj Singh has been rewarded for his stellar World Cup with a Grade A contract from the BCCI for 2011-12, a year after being demoted to Grade B. Virat Kohli and Ishant Sharma have both been given Grade A contracts for the first time. Rohit Sharma moved up from Grade C to B, as did R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, but Ashish Nehra, who had a Grade B contract, did not make the list of contacted players at all. Harbhajan Singh, who was not picked for the one-day series against England or for the upcoming first Test against West Indies, remained in Grade A.

Yuvraj had a unmemorable 2010, with indifferent form and fitness dogging him through one of the toughest phases of his career. He bounced back excellently to be Man of the Tournament in the World Cup, before injury cut short his tour of England. The total number of contracted players swollen from 24 to 37, with Umesh Yadav, Abhinav Mukund, Rahul Sharma and Varun Aaron receiving contracts for the first time. Aaron and Yadav impressed with their pace in the recent home one-day series against England.

The pair, along with leg spinner Rahul Sharma, was included in the squad for the first Test against West Indies starting on November 6. All three players were given Grade C contracts. Munaf Patel, who missed out last year, was also in Grade C as was Ajinkya Rahane, who made his ODI debut in England this year. Cheteshwar Pujara, who just recovered from injury and has not played since the IPL, retained his Grade C contract. Meanwhile M Vijay was moved from B to C after struggling on the tour of West Indies earlier this year.

Grade A: Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Suresh Raina, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Virat Kohli, Ishant Sharma.

Grade B: Praveen Kumar, R Ashwin, Pragyan Ojha, Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja.

Grade C: Sreesanth, Amit Mishra, Cheteshwar Pujara, Abhimanyu Mithun, Vinay Kumar , Ajinkya Rahane, Munaf Patel, M Vijay, Abhinav Mukund, Shikhar Dhawan, Wriddhiman Saha, Parthiv Patel, S Badrinath, Manoj Tiwary, Piyush Chawla, Dinesh Karthik, Jaydev Unadkat, Umesh Yadav, Rahul Sharma, Varun Aaron.

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