India were favorites to win the 2014 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup and their performance reflected their claim as the MS Dhoni-led side won all four of their matches to top their group before beating South Africa in the semi-finals to get up a summit clash with Sri Lanka.
However, a scratchy show with the bat resulted in India posting a below par total of 130/4 at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka and Sri Lanka overhauled the target with ease to lift their maiden T20 world title.
Yuvraj Singh came under severe scrutiny for his innings of 11 off 21. However, eight years after the disappointing show, the legendary allrounder has opened up how his confidence was impacted by the lack of support from the team management which ultimately resulted in his horror show with the bat.
Yuvraj drew comparisons between India’s campaign at the 2011 ODI World Cup with the 2014 T20 World Cup to highlight how the atmosphere changed after Duncan Fletcher succeeded Gary Kirsten as the Indian team’s coach.
In an exclusive interaction on Home of Heroes, Sports18‘s newest offering, Yuvraj said, “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.”
He continued, “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. 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.”
Yuvraj said a player’s performance does improve if there’s a backing from captain and the coach. He though claims that in Indian cricket, not every player will have the luck of receiving continuous support.
“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,” he added.
Yuvraj said that several stalwarts of Indian cricket including Harbhajan Singh, Virender Sehwag, VVS Laxman and Gautam Gambhir didn’t get the support when they were struggling.
“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 said.
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