Two-time World Cup-winning Indian all-rounder Yuvraj Singh, in a recent no-holds-barred interaction, spilt beans regarding favouritism in the team during the 2011 ODI World Cup.
Yuvraj revealed that Suresh Raina got massive backing from the then-Indian captain MS Dhoni, despite poor form.
Both Raina and Dhoni have been mainstays at Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the IPL since its inception in 2008.
“Suresh Raina had larger support then because MS used to back him. Every captain has a favourite player, and I think Mahi really backed Raina at that time,” Yuvi stated in a Sports Tak interview.
Also, Yuvraj claimed that the management had ‘no choice’ but to pick him in the team in the absence of a left-arm spinner.
“Yusuf Pathan was also performing well at that time and even I was doing well and was also picking wickets. And Raina was not in a good touch then. They did not have a left-arm spinner at that time and I was picking wickets so they did not have any choice,” added the man of the tournament of 2011 World Cup.
Yuvraj single-handedly won many matches throughout the tournament with his all-round performances. Also, he was instrumental in the 2007 T20 World Cup win for India.
Despite battling with cancer in the coveted main-event of ODI cricket, Yuvraj came out with flying colours.
After his treatment, Yuvi lost his touch as he was made the scapegoat for Team India loss in the 2014 T20 World Cup final loss against Sri Lanka.
The Punjab stalwart made his comeback in the 2016 Australian series, after being dropped. However, Yuvraj was finally dropped again, never to return, after the 2017 Champions Trophy. Yuvraj called it quits from the game during the 2019 World Cup last year.
