Yuvraj Singh was one of the greats in white-ball cricket and played a key role in the team’s success in big tournaments. He was India’s best player in the T20 World Cup in 2007 and the 2011 ODI World Cup. He was diagnosed with cancer after the Men in Blue’s title winning campaign in 2011 and was out of action for a long time. H returned to international cricket in 2012 but failed to cement his place.
When Virat Kohli became captain, Yuvraj was given a few changes before getting dropped. Speaking on Lallantop, former India cricketer Robin Uthappa blamed Kohli for Yuvraj’s removal.
“Virat wanted players to reach his level in fitness, eating habits, listening and agreeing. It is tough to match as everyone is different,” he said.a
Uthappa indirectly held Kohli responsible for forcing Yuvraj out of the national team. “Yuvi Pa defeated cancer. He won us two World Cups. When you become captain, you talk about his diminished lung capacity. You have seen his struggles and there was a need to back him and give him sometime to get back. Yuvraj deserved some exceptions because he defeated cancer and won tournaments in the past,” he added.
Uthappa revealed that Yuvraj wanted the fitness test to be reduced by two points but Virat refused to accept his demand.
“Yuvi’s request was not given importance. They were not in favour of him playing for the country but he managed to pass the fitness test. However, he was dumped after a few failures. Virat Kohli was the leader and everything was decided according to his instructions.”
Taking a dig at Kohli’s captaincy approach, Uthappa mentioned, “I haven’t played under his captaincy a lot. He is a ‘my way or the highway’ kind of a skipper.”
Yuvraj announced his retirement from international cricket on June 10, 2019. He last match in the Indian Premier League was in 2019.
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