Former India player Yuvraj Singh has revealed that Mahendra Singh Dhoni gave him clarity on his position in the Indian team for the 2019 World Cup even as captain Virat Kohli backed the all-rounder following his comeback. Yuvraj said Dhoni showed him the real picture that selectors were not looking at him.
Yuvraj, who last played for India in the 2017 tour of West Indies, announced his retirement in June last year soon after the World Cup commenced. He has now revealed that Dhoni informed him that he was not being considered to be part of the squad.
“When I made my comeback, Virat Kohli supported me. Had he not backed me then I wouldn’t have made a comeback. But then it was Dhoni who showed me the correct picture about the 2019 World Cup that selectors are ‘not looking at you’. He showed me the real picture. He gave me clarity. He did as much as he could,” Yuvraj said to a news channel.
Months after India’s triumph at the 2011 ODI World Cup, with Yuvraj declared as the Man of the Tournament, the former all-rounder was diagnosed with a rare form of lung cancer. However, he fought back and returned to the team in 2012 in time for the T20 World Cup. In 2015, he was not included in the squad for the 50-over World Cup as he struggled with his form.
Yuvraj made his final comeback during the ODI series against England in 2017 before the Champions Trophy and the West Indies tour later that year.
Yuvraj, however, insisted that he never had issues with former World Cup-winning captain Dhoni.
“Till the 2011 World Cup, MS (Dhoni) had a lot of confidence in me and used to tell me that ‘you are my main player’. But after coming back from illness, the game changed and a lot of changes happened in the team. So as far as the 2015 World Cup is concerned, you can’t really pinpoint at something. So this is a very personal call,” Yuvraj said.
“So I understood that as a captain sometimes you can’t justify everything because at the end of the day you have to see how the country performs,” he added.
