Yuvraj’s international career came to an abrupt end in 2017.
The southpaw represented India in 304 ODIs, scoring 8701 at an average of 36.56 with 14 centuries and 52 fifties. He was also the Player-of-the-Tournament in India’s 2011 World Cup triumph.
Yuvraj played 58 T20Is for India and amassed 1177 runs. He was instrumental in India’s 2007 T20 World Cup title win. Despite not getting consistent chances, he featured in 40 Tests and scored 1900 runs at 33.93 with 3 tons and 11 half-centuries.
However, Yuvraj’s international career came to an abrupt end in 2017 after he failed to make a mark in the Champions Trophy.
In an interview with Lallantop, former Indian cricketer Robin Uthappa recalled how Yuvraj struggled to regain his place in the national team post-cancer under Virat Kohli’s stringent leadership.
"Virat's style of captaincy was different to the extent that you needed to reach his level. Whether it was fitness, whether it was eating habits, whether it was listening, agreeing, all of that had to happen at that standard," said Uthappa while talking about Virat's captaincy, before coming to Yuvraj's snub.
"There are two different types of leaders. There are leaders who say this is the standard needed and there are leaders who say 'I will meet you there and elevate you to the standards I need you to be at'. Both work and both get the results, but the impact on the personnel will be different. One will value a lot, and the exclusive one will feel let down a lot."
To explain how things changed during Kohli's leadership tenure, Uthappa narrated the story of Yuvraj post his recovery from cancer.
"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. You had been with him when you had seen him struggle," he said.
"Nobody has told me this, I observe things," added Uthappa, who played 46 ODIs and 13 T20Is for India.
"You have seen him struggle...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," Uthappa stated.
Uthappa also claimed that Yuvraj asked for some leeway in the fitness test, but his request was denied.
"So when Yuvi requested for that two-point deduction (in the fitness test), 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 into the team, but had a lean tournament. (They) 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," Uthappa said.
Concluding on the topic, Uthappa remarked: "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 you treat your team, how you treat your personnel, because it is not just about results."