Former Indian batter Robin Uthappa has accused Virat Kohli of allegedly axing Yuvraj Singh from the Indian team, which eventually ended the left-hander’s international career. Uthappa’s comments came during his interview with the popular YouTube channel, The Lallantop.
Making his international debut in 2000, Yuvraj shot to prominence by helping India win the Natwest Series 2002 final, with his 121-run partnership with Mohammad Kaif. Then, the 43-year-old etched his name into the history books by hitting six sixes off as many balls in India’s 2007 T20 World Cup title-winning campaign. He then won the Player of the Series award in the 2011 World Cup for his contribution of 362 runs and 15 wickets, as the Men in Blue won the title at their home soil.
However, after the 2011 World Cup, Yuvraj was diagnosed with a cancerous tumour stage-1 in his left lung. He then underwent chemotherapy and later returned to international cricket in 2012. He was then dropped in 2014 due to lackluster form and then returned in 2016. The southpaw registered his highest ODI score of 150 against England in Cuttack in January 2017.
After featuring in the 2017 Champions Trophy and the subsequent West Indies tour, Yuvraj’s inconsistent form and fitness issues played a role in him getting dropped from the side. He last donned the India jersey in June 2017 against West Indies, and then played in the IPL until 2019.
Now, Uthappa has blamed then-captain Kohli for dropping Yuvraj citing the left-hander’s reduced lung capacity. According to him, Kohli could have made an exception in fitness required for the players in the Indian team, given Yuvraj’s past battle with cancer. He said:
“Take Yuvi Pa’s instance. The man beat cancer and was trying to make a comeback into the international side. He is the man who won us a World Cup-won us two World Cups, for that matter-along with the other players but played an integral role in helping us win.
“Then for such a player, when you [Kohli] become captain, you say his lung capacity has diminished and you have been with him when you have seen him struggle. Nobody has told me this, I observe things.
“You have seen him struggle, then when you are captain, yes you have to maintain a level of standard, but there are always exceptions to the rule. Here is a man who deserves to be an exception because he is not just beaten and won you tournaments, but he has beaten cancer.”
Robin Uthappa also revealed that Yuvraj Singh requested a two-point deduction to Virat Kohli and the team management regarding the Yo-Yo fitness test scores. Although, they did not entertain his request, Yuvraj managed to pass the test and was induced into the side. He was then dropped from the team after a bad tournament/series without a proper explanation.
“So when Yuvi requested for that two-point deduction, he didn’t get it. Then he did the test because he was outside the team and they weren’t taking him in. He passed the fitness test, came inside the team, had a lean tournament, took him out totally. Never entertained him after that.”
“It could be KL Rahul, Virat Kohli” – Robin Uthappa on ‘Mr. Fix It’ in Indian team
Robin Uthappa also shared his take on the controversy regarding ‘Mr. Fix It’ in the Indian team. The report between the Border-Gavaskar Trophy went viral when a senior player claimed to fix all issues in the team by replacing Rohit Sharma as the Test skipper.
According to Uthappa, Virat Kohli or KL Rahul could be the possible senior player, who has put forward his claim of being ‘Mr. Fix It’.
“I don’t know who is Mr Fix-it. But if he has come out. People say it is speculation. For me, in the Indian team, there is no smoke without fire. It is senior players. In that sense, it is speculative. But there is another side to this also. But for me what do I care about, the Indian team being perceived right. Especially during the course of an important series. This is the most important series and during that, even if that happens, keep it inside, why take it outside. It could be KL Rahul, Virat Kohli. We think Rahul is not senior, he has been in the side for the last eight-nine years,” the former India cricketer said.
