There is no denying that Yuvraj Singh was one of the finest cricketers to have played white-ball cricket. He was a sure shot match winner and played crucial roles behind Team India’s World Cup victories in 2007 and 2011.
Yuvraj represented India in 304 ODIs and 58 T20 Internationals, where he amassed 8701 and 1177 runs, respectively. Yuvraj was also adjudged ‘Player of the Series’ in the 2011 World Cup, which India won on home soil under the inspirational captaincy of MS Dhoni.
Despite having such an impactful limited-overs career, Yuvraj was somehow unable to live up to the expectations in Test cricket. The star all-rounder went on to play just 40 Test matches for India, scoring 1900 runs with the help of three centuries.
Speaking on Sports 18’s Home of Heroes, Yuvraj shared his views on why he could not prolong his career in the longest format. Yuvi played in the golden era of Indian batting, where he shared the change room with stalwarts such as Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag, VVS Laxman and Sourav Ganguly.
Recalling his playing days, Yuvraj reckoned that batsmen didn’t get enough changes during that time compared to today’s era, where batters get 10-15 matches to prove their mettle.
“If you compare that era to today’s era, you can see players getting 10-15 matches. You look at that era, you could open like the way Viru started it. After that, Dravid, Sachin, Ganguly, and Laxman. I got a hundred in Lahore, and in the next Test, I was told to open,” said Yuvraj.
The Chandigarh-born cricketer admitted that by the time he got to play Test cricket regularly post the retirement of former Indian skipper Ganguly, he was diagnosed with cancer. Yuvraj said he wanted to play 100 Test matches for India, but it was not meant to be for him.
“Eventually, when I got opportunities to play Test cricket after Dada’s retirement, I got diagnosed with cancer. It has just been bad luck. I tried 24×7. I wanted to play 100 Test matches, face those fast bowlers, and bat for two days. I gave it everything, but it was not meant to be,” added Yuvraj.
