New Delhi: Former batter Robin Uthappa has held Virat Kohli indirectly responsible for cutting short Yuvraj Singh’s international career after he beat cancer to return to the team, saying the flamboyant all-rounder’s request for certain fitness concessions was denied by the then-India captain.
One of India’s finest players in white-ball cricket, Yuvraj was one of the big reasons for the team’s twin World Cup success under MS Dhoni’s leadership, but after the title triumph in the 2011 ODI showpiece, he was diagnosed with cancer and was promptly treated for the same in the US.
Yuvraj then made a remarkable recovery to fight his way back into the Indian team and also scored a hundred against England in an ODI, but after a quiet outing in the Champions Trophy in 2017, he was ignored and decided to retire from the game in 2019.
Telling the story as he saw it, Uthappa said during an interview on ‘Lallantop’, “Take Yuvi Pa’s instance. The man beat cancer, and he is trying to come back into the international side. He is the man who won us a World Cup, won us two World Cups for that matter, along with the other players, but played an integral role in helping us win.
“Then for such a player, when you become captain, you say his lung capacity has diminished and you have been with him when you have seen him struggle. Nobody has told me this, I observe things.”
Uthappa added, “You have seen him struggle, then when you are captain, yes you have to maintain a level of standard, but there are always exceptions to the rule. Here is a man who deserves to be an exception because he is not just beaten and won you tournaments, but he has beaten cancer.
“He has beaten the hardest challenge in life in that sense. Some question room for someone like that.”
Uthappa revealed that Yuvraj asked for a point deduction in the fitness test but was denied any leniency by the team management. However, he was able to clear the test and make a comeback to the side before being dropped after a poor outing in the Champions Trophy in England.
“So when Yuvi requested for that two-point deduction, he didn’t get it. Then he did the test because he was outside the team and they weren’t taking him in. He passed the fitness test, came inside the team, had a lean tournament, took him out totally. Never entertained him after that.
“Whoever was in the leadership group, didn’t entertain him. That time Virat was the leader and it went according to him due to his strong personality, and that time it was according to him,” Uthappa said.
Speaking about Kohli’s leadership style, Uthappa said he was a ‘my way or the highway’ kind of a captain.
“I haven’t played under Virat as a captain very much. But Virat as a captain, he was very ‘my way or the highway’ kind of a captain. It’s not like these guys aren’t also like that, but how to treat your team, how you treat your personnel, because it is not just about results.”
Yuvraj, 43, announced his international retirement in 2019, having last played in the IPL in the same year for Mumbai Indians.
