Robin Uthappa holds Virat Kohli indirectly responsible for cutting short Yuvraj Singh's career (WATCH)

Former cricketer Robin Uthappa has suggested that Virat Kohli played a role in shortening Yuvraj Singh's international career after the latter’s battle with cancer.

Sunita Iyer

First Published Jan 10, 2025, 11:01 AM IST | Last Updated Jan 10, 2025, 11:01 AM IST

Former cricketer Robin Uthappa has suggested that Virat Kohli played a role in shortening Yuvraj Singh's international career after the latter’s battle with cancer. Uthappa claimed that Kohli, who was the captain at the time, denied Yuvraj's request for certain fitness concessions, which contributed to the all-rounder’s early exit from the national team.

Yuvraj Singh, one of India's finest white-ball players and a key figure in the team's back-to-back World Cup victories under MS Dhoni, was diagnosed with cancer shortly after India’s 2011 ODI World Cup win. Following treatment in the US, Yuvraj made an inspiring recovery and fought his way back into the Indian team, even scoring a century against England in an ODI. However, after a quiet performance in the 2017 Champions Trophy, he was overlooked for selection and ultimately decided to retire from international cricket in 2019.

Telling the story as he saw it, Uthappa said during an interview on 'Lallantop', "Take Yuvi Pa's instance. The man beat cancer, and he is trying to come back 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 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," he added.

"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. He has beaten the hardest challenge in life in that sense. Some question room for someone like that," he further said.

Uthappa disclosed that Yuvraj had requested a deduction in the fitness test points but was denied any concessions by the team management. Despite this, Yuvraj managed to clear the test and made a successful comeback to the team. However, after a lackluster performance in the Champions Trophy in England, he was dropped from the squad.

"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. Whoever was in the leadership group, didn't entertain him. That time Virat was the leader and it went according to him due to his strong personality, and that time it was according to him," Uthappa said.

Reflecting on Kohli's leadership style, Uthappa described him as a captain with a "my way or the highway" approach.

"I haven't played under Virat as a captain very much. But Virat as a captain, he was very 'my way or the highway' kind of a captain. It's not like these guys aren't also like that, but how to treat your team, how you treat your personnel, because it is not just about results," he said.

Yuvraj Singh, 43, announced his retirement from international cricket in 2019, after having played his last IPL match for Mumbai Indians in the same year.

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