As Captain, Ganguly Supported Me More Than Dhoni or Kohli: Yuvraj Singh

Former India batsman Yuvraj Singh rued the current generation cricketers’ attitude towards Test cricket, saying most of them have prioritised IPL over the four-day game.

Yuvraj also added that today’s youngsters do not respect their seniors the way his generation respected theirs.

“I came (in 2000) when there was no IPL. I used to watch my heroes on screen and suddenly I was sitting next to them. I had such respect for them and learnt from them how to behave, how to talk to the media. There was a lot of learning. Today, there are hardly any seniors to guide the players who are mostly the same age,” Yuvraj told Sportstar.

“Today, the youngsters get such (lucrative) IPL contracts even before playing for India that they don’t want to play four-day cricket. The attitude towards four-day cricket and Test cricket is very poor. I was a guy who was desperate to play Test cricket. In my 17 years of career, I played 40 Tests. Seven years I was in and out of the team because there was competition in the middle order.

“IPL offers big money and it takes away the focus (from the youngsters). Not the current lot. They want to play Tests but the younger lot, who play one-day cricket mostly, their focus is to play IPL and not four-day cricket for the states. From the interaction with the youngsters, you realize that they can do with more respect for the seniors. It is not the same that we gave to our seniors. There has to be a certain amount of respect towards the seniors, who have taught you so much.”

Interestingly, Yuvraj picked Sourav Ganguly as his best captain, saying MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli didn’t support him as much as Ganguly did.

“I have played under Sourav (Ganguly) and had a lot of support from him. Then Mahi (MS Dhoni) took over. It’s a difficult choice to make between Sourav and Mahi. I have more memories of time under Sourav because of the support he gave me. I didn’t have that kind of support from Mahi and Virat (Kohli).”

Yuvraj also backed under pressure youngsters Rishabh Pant and Prithvi Shaw, saying there’s too much scrutiny on them each time they fail.

“They play under a lot of pressure. I keep speaking to Rishabh. Prithvi is a great talent. But there are too many expectations from them. A lot of noise when they fail. Too much of scrutiny. I think we need to give them some time because they are the future,” he said.

“Coaches and seniors have to be in touch with them constantly and tell them there are certain things they can’t do on and off the field. Work harder on their fitness. They really need guidance because they are at a fragile stage. They can either become great players or their careers could break. If they make a mistake they should be told it is not acceptable. I have gone through that stage.”