Star player who won two World Cups for India was ignored by selectors, then MS Dhoni did this to take him to the team, his name is...
New Delhi: Just imagine what would have happened if Yuvraj Singh had not been there in the 2011 World Cup? The player who was the Man of the Tournament played a huge role in winning the World Cup. Now, the coach of that time, Gary Kirsten, has revealed that the members of the national selection committee were not sure about selecting Yuvraj Singh in the team. And if he and Captain MS Dhoni had not insisted so much, the story would have been completely different. There was a controversy regarding the selection
In a conversation with a website, Kirsten said, 'Thank God that we selected Yuvraj because the matter was very close. It was not an easy selection and there was a lot of debate with the members of our selection committee regarding Yuvraj. The selectors' debate was around 15 players.' He said, I was very keen to take Yuvraj and Dhoni also wanted something similar. This was due to Yuvraj's great experience. And you see that at the end of the tournament, Yuvi was the Man of the Tournament.' The time before the 2011 World Cup
This selection and debate happened before the 2011 World Cup, when there was confusion over Yuvraj's name in the selectors' meeting. At a time when Yuvraj Singh's spot in the squad was still uncertain, coach Gary Kirsten and captain MS Dhoni strongly advocated for his inclusion in the team. The journey from the dressing room to the field
Gary said, 'I was always a fan of Yuvraj Singh. Our relationship was such that sometimes he used to get frustrated with me, but I liked Yuvi very much. I wanted to see Yuvi scoring runs all the time because when I saw him batting, it was amazing to watch him. But he had his own journey and the credit for this goes to Patty Upton (mental conditioning coach).' Mental preparation and experience became the reason
Kirsten said, 'Paddy played a very important role in preparing Yuvi for the tournament. This was Yuvraj's last big tournament before cancer. Yuvraj also took big decisions to prepare himself for the mega tournament.' Effect of stubbornness
However, how right Kirsten and Dhoni's insistence on selecting Yuvraj proved to be became clear after India's victory. Yuvraj scored 362 runs at a strike-rate of over 86 in the tournament and took 15 wickets. Performance brought respect
This also includes the century scored against West Indies in Chennai. At the same time, Yuvraj scored a half-century against Ireland and also took 5 wickets. Yuvraj's selection became the turning point
From this entire incident, it became clear that selecting Yuvraj Singh, who was once surrounded by uncertainty, became the most important decision of India's World Cup campaign, whose success was seen by the whole country.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NDTV
43 minutes ago
- NDTV
History Beckons: India's Koneru Humpy To Meet Divya Deshmukh In FIDE Women's Chess World Cup Final
Grandmaster Koneru Humpy held her nerves to score a come-from-behind victory over China'sTIngjie Lei in the tiebreaker to set up an all-Indian summit clash against Divya Deshmukh at the FIDE Women's World Cup in Batumi, Georgia on Thursday. Humpy will clash with Divya Deshmukh in the final starting after a day's rest starting on Saturday. With Humpy winning, both she and Divya have now qualified for the Women's candidates' tournament next year. Having drawn the first two games in the normal time control Humpy had to settle up with another 1-1 draw in the tiebreaker that comprised two games with 15 minutes for both players with an increment. After two draws here, Humpy had to really work hard in the next set of tiebreak games that had 10 minutes for both players with another increment. Lei got in the lad early in the set of these two games and Humpy erred in the middle game to lose a pawn and get in to a difficult endgame. What followed was pretty logical as Lei got in command and even thought the position was closer to a draw Humpy did not find the best defensive resources to equalize. Humpy lost another pawn on the queen side and despite the presence of opposite coloured Bishops in the endgame, white's influence on both flanks tilted things decisively in her favour. It was a win on demand wherein Humpy dominated the next game. The Queen pawn opening was good enough wherein Humpy was in command right from the word go. Humpy won with her superior technique and also her absolute determination to turn the tide in her favour from any given position. In the third set of tie-break games Humpy drew white in the first game and crushed Lei in all departments of the game. Winning this game meant that just a draw was needed for her to get in to the final and in the return game Humpy was at her technical best as she won again out of an Italian opening. If there is one title that has eluded Humpy it's the World Cup and world championship. Apart that Humpy has won everything under the sun.
Hindustan Times
an hour ago
- Hindustan Times
All-India Affair: Koneru Humpy to meet Divya Deshmukh in FIDE Women's World Cup final
Grandmaster Koneru Humpy held her nerves to score a come-from-behind victory over China'sTIngjie Lei in the tiebreaker to set up an all-Indian summit clash against Divya Deshmukh at the FIDE Women's World Cup here on Thursday. India's Koneru Humpy reacts during semifinal chess match against China's Tingjie Lei at FIDE Women's World Cup 2025(FIDE) Humpy will clash with Divya Deshmukh in the final starting after a day's rest starting on Saturday. With Humpy winning, both she and Divya have now qualified for the Women's candidates' tournament next year. Having drawn the first two games in the normal time control Humpy had to settle up with another 1-1 draw in the tiebreaker that comprised two games with 15 minutes for both players with an increment. After two draws here, Humpy had to really work hard in the next set of tiebreak games that had 10 minutes for both players with another increment. Lei got in the lad early in the set of these two games and Humpy erred in the middle game to lose a pawn and get in to a difficult endgame. What followed was pretty logical as Lei got in command and even thought the position was closer to a draw Humpy did not find the best defensive resources to equalize. Humpy lost another pawn on the queen side and despite the presence of opposite coloured Bishops in the endgame, white's influence on both flanks tilted things decisively in her favour. It was a win on demand wherein Humpy dominated the next game. The Queen pawn opening was good enough wherein Humpy was in command right from the word go. Humpy won with her superior technique and also her absolute determination to turn the tide in her favour from any given position. In the third set of tie-break games Humpy drew white in the first game and crushed Lei in all departments of the game. Winning this game meant that just a draw was needed for her to get in to the final and in the return game Humpy was at her technical best as she won again out of an Italian opening. If there is one title that has eluded Humpy it's the World Cup and world championship. Apart that Humpy has won everything under the sun.
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
2 hours ago
- Business Standard
Deja vu: England, Spain to clash again in Women's Euro Championship final
There's a sense of deja vu about the Women's European Championship final that pits defending champion England against World Cup winner Spain. The two nations faced off in the World Cup final two years ago with Spain edging an open match 1-0. I think obviously that was a massive disappointment and I feel like from a collective we probably feel like we didn't have our best performance that day, but I think if you're trying to pull on that too much then you're going to be too emotional with too many things going on, England midfielder Keira Walsh said on Thursday. Obviously you think about it a little bit but I think for us, put it to the side and focus on the game on Sunday. We've got so many new players in this team who are really confident and bring so many things to this team, so it's exciting and we can just focus on the positives. Both teams needed 120 minutes to get through their gruelling semifinals. England's super-subs had their part to play again on Tuesday with late goals first taking the match to extra time and then securing a last-gasp 2-1 victory over Italy. Spain needed a moment of magic from two-time Ballon d'Or winner Aitana Bonmati to get past a resilient German side 1-0 on Wednesday. It will be a first Euros final for Spain but even before the tournament it had been the favorite to add the European title to its collection after winning the World Cup and Nations League in the past two years. Spain's triumph at the World Cup was marred by the Luis Rubiales scandal, after the-then head of the Spanish soccer federation kissed player Jenni Hermoso during the awards ceremony. Rubiales was subsequently charged with sexual assault and convicted a few months before the start of Euro 2025, bringing an end to one of the worst chapters in the history of Spanish soccer. Walsh, who made 100 appearances for Barcelona over two-and-a-half seasons, was playing in Spain at the time and witnessed the fallout first hand. I think the most important thing for them is that they can enjoy this final, there's not the controversy surrounding it, she said. I think just for the girls this time and as a friend and another football player, for them just to go and enjoy it. They play incredible football and they deserve to be there, so as a human being I just want them to go out and enjoy the game of football. Walsh doesn't feel Spain's star-packed squad received enough credit after the World Cup triumph. Obviously after the game there was a lot of controversy and I don't think for them there was enough spotlight on how incredible they played and how incredible some of their players were, it was all about the other stuff that had gone on, she said. I think as a professional that was disappointing to see. Obviously I have a lot of friends in that team and I think they probably deserved a little bit more than what they got. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
