Yuvraj Singh reveals why his test career career fizzled out

At his peak, Yuvraj Singh was one of the most dominating batsmen in world cricket. One of the most talented players to put on India’s jersey, Yuvraj had a dream run between 2005 and 2009, as no one in world cricket scored more runs and centuries in that period of time.

A legend in the limited overs format, Yuvraj never really nailed down a spot in the test format. At his peak, his path to the test side was blocked by the greatest middle-order in the history of Indian cricket.

In India’s tour to Australia in 2007-08, Rahul Dravid was made to open to batting in order to accommodate the in-form Yuvraj. But that did not work out too well, as Yuvraj had a poor tour and was subsequently dropped from the test format.

In a recent interview, Yuvi speaks about his inability to break into the test format.

“When I was growing up, I played a lot of two-day and three-day cricket. I also looked forward to playing more and more Test matches, because I always felt that everytime I did well in Test cricket, one-day cricket and (later) T20 cricket looked easier. That was the reason I wanted to play more Test matches.

“But the competition was so high. I was always trying to find a slot in competition with Sourav (Ganguly) and (V.V.S.) Laxman. I opened the innings in one Test against Australia in Chennai in 2004. I got out early in the first innings (for 8), and then in the second innings I was batting on 7 when the game was rained off.

“So that opportunity too was wasted. Later I was brought into the middle-order. I eventually won a slot only when Sourav retired. And then, unfortunately, I was diagnosed as suffering from cancer at the peak of my career.

“I was 29. Had I continued I would have played 80 Test matches or more. But I really have no regrets. It’s been a blessing because I played 15 years of international cricket. I have to be positive and move forward.”