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Former India all-rounder Yuvraj Singh recently opened up about the final years of his international career and claimed that he wasn’t given ample chances to get back in form. While talking on Home of Heroes on Sports18, he mentioned how Mahendra Singh Dhoni was backed during his final days as he played in the 2019 World Cup.

“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”, Yuvi said.

“I wasn’t getting enough support from the team” 

The former Indian all-rounder also opened up about the 2014 ICC T20 World Cup final where he struggled to score runs as the Men in Blue lost to Sri Lanka by six wickets. He talked about how he couldn’t connect the ball and score 11 runs in 21 balls.

“During the T20 World Cup in 2014, I was very low on confidence. There was an atmosphere where 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”, Singh told Sports 18.

“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, but I didn’t get out….Everybody thought my career was over after that. I also thought my career was over. 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.”

“A left-right combination was needed in the middle”

In the same segment, Yuvraj Singh also spoke about the 2011 World Cup final where MS Dhoni was promoted to bat at Singh’s number and scored 91 runs to win the World Cup. He said,  “Mahi going to bat ahead of me in the 2011 World Cup final was more of a team decision, I think. When Virat and Gautam were in the middle of a decent partnership, a conversation had happened in the dressing room.”

“Viru, Sachin, Gary and Mahi may have had a discussion and planned that a left-right combination is needed in the middle because two off-spinners were bowling at that time. It was decided that if Virat gets out Mahi will go in the middle and if Gautam gets out, I will bat next,” Yuvraj added.