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Yuvraj Singh's father Yograj Singh has expressed his discontent with former Indian captain MS Dhoni yet again. Naturally, his criticism of Dhoni becomes talk of the social media and this time it has been no different.
Over the years, Yograj has been active in pressing on the fact that Dhoni intentionally kept Yuvraj out of the squad in favor of other cricketers. The 66-year-old also thinks the former wicketkeeper-batter cut-short Yuvraj's international career.
It is evident that the spin bowling all-rounder was the finest performer for India in 2011 World Cup victory, scoring 362 runs and picking up 15 wickets. However, Yuvraj's career took a downturn after getting diagnosed with cancer, putting him on the sidelines. Although he returned to the team in the latter part of 2012, he was dropped from the squad after mediocre outings. The southpaw kept making appearances in the next few years, before playing his final ODI game in June 2017.
On that note, let's take a look at the five occasions when Yograj Singh launched derogatory remarks against MS Dhoni.
#1 Blamed Dhoni for having personal issues with Yuvraj after 2015 World Cup squad selection
In January 2015, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the squad for the ODI World Cup scheduled for later that year. In the following month, Yograj Singh claimed that Yuvraj Singh's non-selection was due to MS Dhoni having personal issues with the all-rounder.
Here's what he said:
"I was shocked when I learnt that Yuvraj Singh was not in the World Cup squad. If MS Dhoni is having personal issues with my son, I won't do anything, god will do justice. He (Dhoni) told the selectors that Yuvraj was not needed in the squad." [H/t Economic Times]
However, the reality was that Yuvraj's last ODI appearance came in December 2013 against South Africa. Thus, there was no case of his selection after a year-long hiatus from the team.
#2 Correlated Yuvraj Singh's international comeback in 2017 to Dhoni quitting captaincy
Yuvraj Singh made a comeback to the ODI squad after four years in the home series against England in January 2017. Interestingly, ahead of the series, Dhoni handed over captaincy reign to Virat Kohli, who had the liberty to choose his players.
As per Yograj, the key reason for Yuvraj's comeback was the change in captaincy.
“Yuvraj is in the team because Dhoni is no longer the captain. I had said this couple of years ago that he would be back in the team once Dhoni wasn’t the captain. It’s proved true now,” Yograj was quoted as saying in an interview to Maharashtra Times. [H/t Scroll]
Interestingly, the same series saw Yuvraj produce his career-best knock of 150 and stitch together a match-winning 256-run stand with Dhoni in Cuttack.
#3 Yograj Singh bashed MS Dhoni for India's 2019 World Cup exit
Yograj blamed Dhoni for India's 2019 World Cup semi-final loss, which saw them fall short of 18 runs against New Zealand. According to him, Jadeja (77 off 59) was connecting the ball well but couldn't find support from Dhoni (50 off 72) in terms of strike rate.
“One boy (Ravindra Jadeja) comes and he starts playing the big shots at will without any worry. You are batting on the other end. You are telling him to play the shots while he was batting on 77. Before that, you told Hardik Pandya to take on the spinners,” Yograj was quoted as saying by NNIS Sports. [H/t DNA]
“Mr Mahendra Singh Dhoni, you have played so much cricket. Don’t you have any sense about what to do and what not? Did Yuvraj ever tell any other player to play the shots as you do?” he added.
#4 Boldly predicted India to win T20 World Cup 2024 in absence of MS Dhoni
Earlier this year, Yograj Singh took another jibe at MS Dhoni ahead of the T20 World Cup. As per the former pacer, the Men in Blue were better placed to win the ICC event due to absence of Dhoni and lauded Yuvraj for being the tournament's brand ambassador.
"As an Indian, I want India to win. Dhoni nahi hai, phir jeet jayenge (India should win the World Cup now that MS Dhoni is not there). The whole world is saying it. Gautam Gambhir and Rohit Sharma are also saying it," said Yograj. [H/t NDTV]
The Indian team eventually went on to lift the ICC event after securing a thrilling seven-run victory over South Africa under the leadership of Rohit Sharma.
#5 Accused Dhoni of destroying Yuvraj Singh's career in 2024
In his latest rant, Yograj expressed his disappointment at Dhoni ruining Yuvraj Singh's career. He feels the all-rounder could have played for four-five years more, had Dhoni supported him during the last decade.
"I won’t forgive MS Dhoni. He should look at himself in the mirror. He is a very prominent cricketer, I salute him. But what he did to my son is unforgivable. Everything is coming to light now, and it can never be forgiven," Yograj told Switch YouTube channel.
"That man has ruined my son's life, who could have played for four to five more years. I challenge everyone to have a son like Yuvraj. Even Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag have said that there will never be another Yuvraj Singh."
Furthermore, Yograj thinks Yuvraj should be awarded the Bharat Ratna for battling cancer and helping India emerge as 2011 World Cup champions.
