Thought my career was over after the knock in the 2014 WT20 final: Yuvraj

Every player, at some point in their career, has a tournament to forget, and in Yuvraj Singh’s case, it happened to be the 2014 World T20 in Bangladesh. Yuvraj, leading up to the World Cup, had played just one T20I in the preceding 18 months, and the southpaw had a nightmare of a fortnight as he finished the competition with 100 runs to his name in 5 innings at a strike rate of 98.03.

And in the final against Sri Lanka in Mirpur, the southpaw played the kind of knock that encapsulated his struggles in the tournament. Walking in at No.4, Yuvraj never managed to get going, and eventually finished with 11 off 21 balls. His knock meant that India finished with an under-par total of 130 which was eventually chased down with ease by Sri Lanka, who ended up winning the the T20 World Cup for the first time in their history.

That knock in the final was a reputation-damaging one for Yuvraj, who received plenty of flack online. In a recent interview, the veteran recalled his infamous knock in Mirpur and revealed how he thought his career was over.

“When the final came, I just couldn’t hit the ball. I tried to hit the off-spinner and I couldn’t hit it and it went for dots. I tried to get out, I didn’t get out….Everybody thought my career was over after that. I also thought my career was over,” Yuvraj said, speaking on Home of Heroes on Sports18, reported Hindustan Times.

“But that’s life. You have to accept that. If you accept glories, you must accept your defeats as well and you must move forward."

In the interview, Yuvraj also revealed how, during the 2014 T20 World Cup, there existed a fear in his mind that he could potentially get dropped mid-tournament. The veteran claimed that he did not receive enough support from the management.

“During the T20 World Cup in 2014, I was very low on confidence. There was an atmosphere that I could get dropped. It’s not an excuse but I wasn’t getting enough support from the team. From the time of Gary, I was in Duncan’s era and things had completely changed in the team," Yuvraj said.

As it turned out, Yuvraj played for India for three more years, even featuring in the 2017 Champions Trophy, but the 40-year-old claimed several other seniors of yesteryear did not receive sufficient backing from the management. 

"Definitely when you have support from the coach and the captain it helps," Yuvraj said.

“Look at Mahi (MS Dhoni) towards the end of his career. He had so much support from Virat and Ravi Shastri. They took him to the World Cup, he played till the end, and went on to play 350 games. I think support is very important but in Indian cricket everybody will not get support.

“There have been great players like Harbhajan Singh, Virender Sehwag, VVS Laxman, Gautam Gambhir who didn’t get that (support). When you are batting out there and you know that the axe is hanging on your head how will you concentrate and bat and give your best. It is not an excuse but with different coaches and after 2011 times are very different," he added.