Former India all-rounder Yuvraj Singh believes the BCCI did not manage his former teammates such as Harbhajan Singh, Virender Sehwag and Zaheer Khan well towards the end of their careers and hoped the board will recognise the efforts of match-winners in the future and honour them for their contribution towards Indian cricket.
Yuvraj, who retired from international cricket last year after playing for 19 years, did not get a farewell game and neither did Zaheer or Sehwag. Yuvraj also feels that the way BCCI handled him towards the end of his career was ‘unprofessional’, although it wasn’t surprising for him.
“Giving someone a farewell, that’s not for me to decide. It’s up to the BCCI. But I felt the way that they managed me towards the end of my career, was very unprofessional,” Yuvraj told SportsKeeda. “But looking back at some of the great players from India – Harbhajan [Singh], [Virender] Sehwag, Zaheer Khan – were also badly mismanaged. It’s part of Indian cricket, I have seen that in the past so I wasn’t really surprised.”
Yuvraj last played for India during the tour of West Indies in 2017. Earlier that year in January, Yuvraj made his final comeback into the Indian team during the ODI series against England and smashed a career-best 150 in Cuttack.
Yuvraj was part of the India’s squad for the 2017 Champions Trophy where his only significant contribution was a knock of 53 against Pakistan. Yuvraj, who announced his retirement in the middle of the World Cup last year, wants the BCCI will pay respect to some of the greats of the game, who couldn’t finish their careers on a high.
“But in the future, anybody who has played for India for a long time and has been through tough situations, you should definitely honour him. Give him that respect, somebody like Gautam Gambhir, who has won two World Cups for us. Sehwag, who has been the biggest match-winner after Sunil Gavaskar in Tests. Zaheer, who has 350 wickets, Laxman… and all these guys,” said Yuvraj (Hindustan Times)