As the vice-captain of the Indian cricket team back in the day, it was all but natural for former India all-rounder Yuvraj Singh to develop captaincy ambitions. In his case, unfortunately, circumstances took a sharp turn to not allow a natural transition with regard to a captain being replaced by his deputy.
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Speaking on Sports18’s show named ‘Home Of Heroes’ last year, Yuvraj had revealed how there were a few reasons that didn’t allow him to lead India even once during the course of a decorated 402-match career spanning over 17 years.
With the seniors pulling out of ICC World Twenty20 2007, MS Dhoni was handed the reigns of the T20I squad in spite of the presence of former batter Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj. If truth be told, even Dhoni, during the inaugural T20 World Cup, was left surprised upon being announced India’s ODI captain back home.
A gracious Yuvraj, however, backed Dhoni’s promotion in the hindsight. Speaking to former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar, the southpaw made it clear that the additional responsibility of not being a captain never refrained him from giving his 100% to the team.
“After a while, I thought, you know, Mahi [MS Dhoni] was getting really good with captaincy. I could feel that, you know, this probably is the right guy to captain India in One Day cricket and I started to get injured a lot. So, even if I was the captain, eventually I would lost or I would have said ki [that] somebody else because my injuries were taking a toll on my body. So, everything happens for the best, but actually, I don’t regret not having the captaincy of India,” Yuvraj told Sports18.
It is noteworthy that Dhoni had made his international debut more than four years after Yuvraj first played at the highest level. Unlike his senior, Dhoni neither represented India at the U-19 level. Yuvraj, on the contrary, had won the Player of the Tournament award during a title-winning ICC U-19 World Cup 2000 campaign.
That said, the legendary Sachin Tendulkar recommended Dhoni’s name to the selectors because of his calm attitude. It is worth of a mention that taking Tendulkar’s side in one of the infamous eras of Indian cricket also played a part in Yuvraj not being considered to lead the national side.
How Siding With Sachin Tendulkar Cost Yuvraj Singh
Apart from Dhoni’s progression at the professional level and Yuvraj’s injuries, another reason that affected his captaincy aspirations was him taking Tendulkar’s side at the time of Greg Chappell‘s controversial coaching tenure.
Since becoming the Indian head coach in 2005, the former Australian captain initiated one of the darkest phases of Indian cricket. With him being accused of hampering the team’s atmosphere, a large majority of Indian cricketers, including Tendulkar, had issues with him. In his autobiography ‘Playing It My Way’ (2014), Tendulkar had called Chappell a “ringmaster” who used to impose ideas on the players rather than listening to them.
Chappell, who wanted Tendulkar to play in the middle-order against his wish during ICC Cricket World Cup 2007, had coached India to a disastrous campaign. As things panned out, there was a time when the players had to choose between Chappell and Tendulkar. Singh, like many of his teammates, chose Tendulkar knowing how the Master Blaster wasn’t being treated in an appropriate way.
As per Yuvraj, that decision played a massive role in him not being considered for captaincy. In spite of influential figures working at the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) developing a dislike for Yuvraj, he had no regrets for siding with Tendulkar. Apart from Tendulkar, former captain Sourav Ganguly, who recommended Chappell to the BCCI, had also lost his spot under him.
