Robin Uthappa Claims Kohli’s Leadership Ended Yuvraj Singh’s Career Early

Yuvraj Singh is one of India’s best white ball cricketers. His journey from fighting cancer to winning the World Cup is truly inspiring. The left-handed batter played 304 ODIs for India, scoring 8701 runs at an average of 36.56, with 14 centuries and 52 half-centuries. He was the Player of the Tournament in India’s 2011 World Cup victory.

Yuvraj also played 58 T20Is and scored 1177 runs. He played a key role in India’s 2007 T20 World Cup win. In Tests, he played only 40 matches and scored 1900 runs at an average of 33.93 with 3 centuries and 11 fifties, and because of that, he had limited opportunities.

Former Indian cricketer Robin Uthappa in an interview with Lallantop explained how Yuvraj found it tough to return to the Indian team after battling cancer, especially under Virat Kohli’s strict leadership style. Yuvraj Singh’s international career ended suddenly in 2017 when he couldn’t perform well in the Champions Trophy.

"Virat's style of captaincy was different to the extent that you needed to reach his level. Whether it was fitness, whether it was eating habits, whether it was listening, agreeing, all of that had to happen at that standard," Uthappa shared these thoughts while reflecting on Virat's leadership style, before addressing Yuvraj's exclusion from the team.

"There are two different types of leaders. There are leaders who say this is the standard needed and there are leaders who say 'I will meet you there and elevate you to the standards I need you to be at'. Both work and both get the results, but the impact on the personnel will be different. One will value a lot, and the exclusive one will feel let down a lot," Uthappa added.

To highlight changes in Kohli’s leadership, Uthappa recalls Yuvraj’s fight to make a comeback after being ill from cancer.

"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. You had been with him when you had seen him struggle," he added.

"Nobody has told me this, I observe things. You have seen him struggle...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 has not just beaten and won you tournaments, but he has beaten cancer. He has beaten the hardest challenge in life in that sense," Uthappa stated.

Uthappa revealed that Yuvraj had requested some flexibility in the fitness test, but his appeal was turned down.

"So when Yuvi requested for that two-point deduction (in the fitness test), 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 into the team, but had a lean tournament. (They) 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," Uthappa said.

"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 you treat your team, how you treat your personnel, because it is not just about results." Uthappa concluded.