Yuvraj Singh is regarded as one of the finest all-rounders to ever don the Indian jersey. However, the 39-year-old is more famous for his white-ball heroics than the red-ball. The flamboyant former cricketer didn’t have a fruitful Test career, mainly due to the fact that he played during the ‘Golden era’ of Indian cricket, which comprised of batsmen such as Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag, VVS Laxman and Sourav Ganguly.
Yuvi had to wait for long periods for his chances in the purest format of the game, despite showing a lot of maturity in dealing with crunch moments on the field in coloured clothing. The former all-rounder couldn’t make it to the playing XI for the sole reason of being overshadowed by some big names, not falling in the scheme of things as the team preferred a fast-bowling all-rounder while playing overseas whereas his own contributions weren’t significant in his limited chances he attained.
Yuvraj ended his Test career with 1900 runs in 40 Tests, including 11 half-centuries and 3 tons. While some might argue that had he been given more chances, he may have struck the right chord in Tests. However, the left-hander never looked in comfort or in his zone while donning the whites. Thus, his Test career remained unfulfilled.
Nonetheless, it seems Yuvi still regrets not representing India in Test cricket for long. Thus, when Wisden India’s Twitter handle asked fans a question, “Which former Indian cricketer do you wish played more Tests?”, Yuvi joined the bandwagon and was quick to reply, which surely seemed like a subtle dig at the Indian team management over overlooking him in Tests.
“Probably next life! When I’m not 12th man for 7 years”, Yuvi wrote.
Yuvraj retired from international cricket in 2019 whereas he last represented India in mid-2017. He was an integral part of India’s white-ball success, being the top performer during the Men in Blue’s title wins in the 2007 T20 World Cup and 2011 ODI World Cup.
