Ganguly supported me more than Dhoni and Kohli: Yuvraj Singh
Former Indian all-rounder Yuvraj Singh opened up on his 19-year-old career, stating that Sourav Ganguly supported him more than MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli. The 38-year-old who retired in June last year, slammed the current lot of cricketers for prioritizing the shortest format of the game over Test cricket. Yuvraj also backed youngsters Rishabh Pant and Prithvi Shaw. Here is what he said.
'I have more memories under Ganguly', says Yuvraj
"I have played under Sourav and had a lot of support. It's difficult to choose between Sourav and Dhoni. I have more memories under Sourav because of the support he gave me. I didn't have that kind of support from Dhoni and Virat," Yuvraj said.
Yuvraj amassed 11,778 international runs
Yuvraj Singh made his international debut against Kenya in the ICC Knockout Cup, 2000. The southpaw finished his ODI career with 8,701 from 304 matches at 36.55. He also featured in 40 Tests and 58 T20Is, having scored 1,900 and 1,177 runs respectively. Furthermore, Yuvraj is still renowned for whacking 6 sixes in an over against Stuart Broad at the World T20 2007.
The attitude towards Test cricket is poor, feels Yuvraj
Yuvraj did not mince any words speaking about contemporary generation of cricketers. He feels the young lot are aligned towards T20 cricket these days. "Today, the youngsters get such (lucrative) IPL contracts even before playing for India that they don't want to play four-day cricket," he stated He added, "The attitude towards four-day cricket and Test cricket is very poor."
Yuvraj hails Rishabh Pant and Prithvi Shaw
Rishabh Pant, who has been undergoing a lean patch, was defended by Yuvraj. The latter also heaped praise on the young Prithvi Shaw. "They play under a lot of pressure. I keep speaking to Rishabh. Prithvi is a great talent too. Too much of scrutiny," Yuvraj asserted He added, "I think we need to give them some time because they are the future."
Pant was dropped after the Australia series
Rishabh Pant has failed to deliver the goods of late. His untimely concussion in the Australia series made way for KL Rahul, who has been India's preferred wicket-keeper in the limited-overs format. Pant could score only 60 runs from four innings in the recently concluded Test series against New Zealand. He averaged 27.72 and 21.00 in ODIs and T20Is respectively last year.