Yograj Singh, a former India pacer and father of famed all-rounder Yuvraj Singh, is well-known for his outspoken criticism of cricket legends. The 67-year-old has frequently chastised MS Dhoni for how he handled his son when captain of the Indian squad. However, in a recent interview, Yograj ripped on Virat Kohli, claiming that the Delhi batsman was never a buddy of Yuvraj.
Yuvraj played 402 international matches for India between 2000 and 2017, scoring 11,178 runs at an average of 35.05, with 17 centuries and 71 fifties. He also claimed 148 wickets across three forms. Yograj believes that Kohli and Dhoni were afraid of losing their places to Yuvraj, and he went on to call the two previous India captains “backstabbers”.
“As I told you, there are no friends in the sphere of success, money and glory. There were always backstabbers, people who wanted to put you down. People were scared of Yuvraj Singh because they were afraid where he would usurp their seats because he was such a great player created by the God Almighty. He has been the greatest of players, who they were scared – right from MS Dhoni, everybody – ‘oh he might take my chair,” said Yograj while speaking to InsideSport.
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Yograj Singh named the legendary Sachin Tendulkar as the only friend Yuvraj had in the Indian team.
The former praised the Master Blaster for his caring demeanour.
Yuvraj was a part of the Indian team which won the 2002 Champions Trophy (joint-winners with Sri Lanka), the 2007 T20 World Cup, and the 2011 ODI World Cup. His best years in international cricket came under Dhoni’s leadership. Meanwhile, he was recalled to the Indian side for the final time after Kohli became the all-format captain of the Men in Blue in early 2017.
Yuvraj played his final match in international cricket against the West Indies on June 30, 2017, at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in North Sound, Antigua. The Chandigarh-born announced his retirement from all forms of domestic and international cricket on June 10, 2019, at the age of 37.
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