Dhoni really backed Raina during 2011 World Cup, says Yuvraj Singh

Suresh Raina had played a crucial role in India's 2011 World Cup triumph.

Yuvraj Singh | GettyFormer India batsman Yuvraj Singh on Saturday (April 18) revealed that people raised questions over his willow during the 2007 T20 World Cup.

See Also: Didn’t get Ganguly-like support from Dhoni and Virat, says Yuvraj Singh

Yuvraj was India’s best player in that triumphant T20 World Cup campaign. In a league encounter against England in Durban, the southpaw smashed pacer Stuart Broad for 6 consecutive sixes, which also saw him registering a 12-ball fifty (fastest of all-time in international cricket across three formats).

Apart from the England game, he demolished the Aussies in the semi-final at Kingsmead with his 30-ball 70.

"The Australian coach at that came to me and had asked if there was a fibre behind my behind and asked if it was legal. Has the match refree checked it? So I told him to get it checked. Even Gilchrist asked me like who used to make our bats," Yuvraj told Sports Tak.

"So match refree had also checked my bat. But honestly, that bat was very special for me. I have never played with a bat like that. That one and the 2011 World Cup bat, there were special."

Yuvraj was also the hero in India’s 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup triumph. He was awarded Player-of-the-Tournament for his 362 runs and 15 wickets in that competition.

The left-hander also spoke about the selection dilemma for then India skipper MS Dhoni ahead of the tournament.

"Suresh Raina had a larger support then, because MS used to back him. Every captain has a favourite player and I think Mahi really backed Raina at that time. Yusuf Pathan was also performing well at that time and even I was doing well and was also picking wickets. And Raina was not in a good touch then. They did not have a left-arm spinner at that time and I was picking wickets so they did not have any choice."

Yuvraj also hailed Sourav Ganguly and said it was the former India skipper who nurtured his talent.

"Sourav Ganguly would be my favourite captain. Of all the India captains, he had supported me the most. Dada nurtured young talent. He had said then that he felt like there were 4-5 boys who would help him make the team strong and he supported al of them."

"We were not impressed with Dada at all. He was the India captain, such a big name. So I was like, Dada please, you are India captain, you can not dress up like that. But Dad was like, let it be, how does it matter."

 

 
 

By Salman Anjum - 19 Apr, 2020

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