Yuvraj Singh was the vice-captain of the Indian team in the 2007 ODI World Cup. After India’s disastrous campaign in the West Indies, in which Rahul Dravid’s side was knocked out in the first round itself, following losses to Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, Dravid stepped down as the captain.
However, the vice-captain Yuvraj Singh wasn’t promoted to the captaincy post. Instead, the BCCI and selectors went with a left-field and unexpected choice in MS Dhoni, who had never held a leadership position in the Indian team until then. The IPL hadn’t in 2007 either, so Dhoni didn’t have any captaincy experience. But for the 2007 T20 World Cup, the selectors named MS Dhoni as the new skipper.
16 years later, now, Singh revealed the reason he believes he wasn’t made the captain. And, Singh reckons, it didn’t have to do anything with his on-field performance, but because he supported Sachin Tendulkar in his tussle with the then head coach Greg Chappell.
I supported Sachin Tendulkar in ‘Sachin vs Chappel’ issue: Yuvraj Singh
Yuvraj Singh said that he felt he was “supposed to be the next captain” after Rahul Dravid. But, he believes, he went against Greg Chappell and supported Tendulkar, that irked the BCCI officials.
In a conversation with commentator Sanjay Manjrekar, Yuvraj Singh said, “I was supposed to be the captain. But when the Greg Chappell issue happened, it was either Chappell or Sachin (Tendulkar). I was probably the only player to support my teammate at that point in time. Some of the BCCI officials didn’t like that. It was said that they should make anybody the captain but me. This is what I’ve heard, I’m not sure how true this is.”
“I was removed from vice-captaincy all of a sudden, Sehwag was not in the team. Out of nowhere, Mahi (MS Dhoni) became the captain of the 2007 World Cup. The decision went against me. But I have no regrets, today if the same thing happens, I will again support my teammate.”
India attained instant glory under MS Dhoni in the 2007 T20 World Cup and Dhoni continued as India’s captain until 2016 in white-ball cricket, before Virat Kohli took over in 2017, by the time Yuvraj was the end of his international career.
