Yuvraj Singh believes NZ whitewash a bigger blow than BGT loss, defends Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli
Yuvraj Singh reflects on India's recent defeats, defends Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, and expresses confidence in the team's recovery under new coach Gautam Gambhir.
FollowFormer World Cup-winning all-rounder Yuvraj Singh has stated that India's 0-3 whitewash at home by New Zealand was a bigger blow than the loss of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, but he refrained from joining the criticism of struggling veterans Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.
India's recent performances in Test cricket have been challenging, suffering a historic 0-3 loss to an under-strength New Zealand at home, followed by a 1-3 defeat to Australia in the away Border-Gavaskar series. Both series were marked by significant batting issues, particularly with Rohit and Kohli's form.
"According to me, losing (to) New Zealand is more hurting (sic). Because they are losing 3-0 at home. You know, that is not acceptable. This (losing BGT) is still acceptable because you have won two times in Australia. And this time you lost," Yuvraj was quoted in a PTI report.
"Australia has been a dominant side for the last so many years, that is my thought," the 43-year-old hero of India's 2011 World Cup triumph said.
Although Kohli managed to score a century during the series, he continued to struggle with dismissals outside the off stump, while Rohit fared worse, accumulating only 31 runs and eventually stepping down from the final Test.
However, Yuvraj argued that it is unjust to criticize the pair harshly, given their past accomplishments.
"We are talking about our greats, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, we are saying very bad things about them," he said.
"...people forget what they have achieved in the past. They are one of the greatest cricketers of this time. Okay, they lost, they did not play good cricket. They are getting hurt more than us," he added.
Optimistic about India's recovery, Yuvraj expressed full confidence not only in Rohit and Kohli but also in the newly appointed head coach Gautam Gambhir, his former teammate.
"I feel that Gautam Gambhir as a coach, Ajit Agarkar as a selector, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, they are the best minds in cricket right now," he asserted.
"And they have to decide what's the way for Indian cricket in future," he said.
The big-hitting former batter also praised Rohit for voluntarily dropping himself from the Sydney Test, calling it a selfless decision.
"I think it is a big thing. I have never seen in the past that the captain's form is not going well and he himself has gone out. And this is Rohit Sharma's greatness that he has kept the team ahead of himself," Yuvraj said.
"I think he is a great captain. Whether win or lose, he will always be a great captain. And in his captaincy, we have played the (ODI) World Cup final. We won a T20 World Cup. We have achieved a lot," he pointed out.
Yuvraj also urged critics to show restraint when analyzing the team's performance.
"I was a student of the game and now I am a student of the game. The amount of cricket I have played, they have played more cricket than me," said the man, who played 304 ODIs, 40 Tests and 58 T20 Internationals for India, amassing 11,000 runs across formats. I can give my opinion. And my opinion is that when players are not performing, it is easy to say bad about them. But it is very difficult to support them. Media's job is to say bad about them. My job is to support my friends and brothers. For me, they are my family. Simple," he signed off.
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