Whenever it comes to picking the best Indian captain, most of the players from the past have gone with either MS Dhoni or Sourav Ganguly. But Yuvraj Singh, the veteran and former spin all-rounder, has decided to make an interesting choice for the position.
Yuvraj Singh has played the lion’s share of his cricket under the leadership of former World Cup-winning captain, MS Dhoni, as he won the 2007 T20 World Cup in South Africa, getting the better of Pakistan in the final, besides lifting the 2011 ODI World Cup at home, thanks to his incredible performance with both bat and ball in hand.
The Chandigarh-born was well known for his flamboyant batting skills besides being the fifth or sixth bowler of the side, especially in the 50-over format, where he could easily come and pick up vital wickets to break the partnership of the opponent side. The incredible fielding skill was the icing on the cake.
Yuvraj Singh Ditches Sourav Ganguly to addressed this captain as ‘the best’
The experienced former Indian player believes that the former captain of the Blue Brigade, Anil Kumble, was better than most of the leaders due to his attitude. The former leg-spinner led the team for a short stint, as the all-rounder spilled the beans during the Club Prairie Podcast by Adam Gilchrist with Micheal Atherton.
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“Kumble became the Test captain when we came to Australia. I thought Kumble was a guy whose attitude was to take the ball when the situation is tough, not give it to another guy, or when the wickets are falling, let me take the ball.” Yuvraj Singh expressed during the conversation.
The left-handed batter smashed 8701 runs in 304 Test matches at an average of under 37 and a strike rate of almost 90, with the help of 14 centuries and 52 half-centuries with the best score of 150. Even in the longest format of the game, he has 1900 runs in 40 runs at an average of below 34 and a strike rate of around 60, celebrating three centuries and 11 half-centuries with a best score of 160. With the bat, he has picked 148 wickets across formats of the game.
“So I thought that kind of attitude was great in a leader. That’s why I talk about Ricky (Ponting) had the mentality of a leader, of stepping in to bat when the situation is tough, whatever, the situation is, he is ready to bat.” Yuvraj Singh noted during the conversation.
The southpaw also pointed out the differences in the quality of captaincy between Sourav Ganguly and MS Dhoni, where he addressed that the latter would always have a plan B with him if the plan A doesn’t work.
“Sourav was more of being aggressive, trying to take teams head-on. What I liked about Dhoni was, he always had a plan B. If plan A doesn’t work, go to plan B. So different captains.” Yuvraj Singh shared.
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The 40-year-old also praised Ganguly for how he stuck with youngsters like Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh and because of having trust in their potential abilities.
“I got in the side when Sourav was the captain. He kind of gave us a lot of confidence and a lot of chances because we were younger, we were not consistent.” Yuvraj Singh concluded. “Like myself and Sehwag and Bhajji [Harbhajan Singh] and Zaheer Khan. He kind of stuck to us for a bit because he knew that these guys can be match-winners in the future.”