Yuvraj Singh: “I Play for Team India”; Suresh Raina as Captain is no Problem

That has become Yuvraj Singh’s famous one liner after reports of his not wanting to play under Suresh Raina made the speculative rounds.

Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh

Yuvraj Singh was sidelined from India’s tour of the West Indies with what was reported as a respiratory illness affecting his lungs. Originally picked to play in the India West Indies ODI series, Yuvraj Singh dropped himself from the squad after the IPL 4 conclusion, citing the illness.

The illness ruled Yuvraj Singh completely from the tour, making him now available for the tour of England. Although Yuvraj Singh was not the only player ruled out from the West Indies series, the focus drifted back to Yuvraj Singh with rumours doing the rounds that the Man of the Tournament in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 and the captain of the Pune Warriors India in the IPL 4 season was unhappy over the change of guard.

Although Gautam Gambhir was supposed to lead India in the ODI series against the West Indies, Gambhir’s shoulder injury brought much controversy for the left handed opener. In the midst of Gambhir’s availability, Suresh Raina was entrusted with the job of captaining the Indian cricket team for the ODI series with Mahendra Singh Dhoni ready to shoulder his duties once more for the Test series to follow.

The news that Yuvraj Singh had made himself available coinciding with the news of Raina’s captaincy left a few drafting conspiracy theories including Yuvraj may have been acting up with the idea of playing under Suresh Raina. The contention was that Yuvraj Singh was the senior cricketer between the two and that since Raina had taken Yuvraj’s place in Test cricket, Yuvraj was reluctant to play under Raina.

That speculation though got a small share of the rumour mill with the senior Indian cricketers being put into the spotlight for playing in the IPL 4 season and falling like nine pins for the tour of the West Indies when the BCCI should have let the cricketers take a break following the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011.

For Yuvraj Singh, controversies though are nothing new. Last year, Yuvraj Singh was not amongst the runs; his injuries were taking a toll on him and it showed in the fluctuations in his body shape which came in for sharp criticism. Yuvraj Singh was also accused by malicious reporting that he was playing despite injuries, under performing in the IPL to get out of his contract with the Kings XI Punjab and that there was ill will between him and some of his team mates at all levels.

Speaking on the sidelines of the reality televisions how – Emotional Atyachaar season 3, Yuvraj Singh not only announced his fitness and availability for India’s tour of England but also, felt it necessary to clear the air regarding his absence from India’s tour of the West Indies. Rubbishing reports that Yuvraj felt it belittling to playing under Suresh Raina, Yuvraj came out strongly to state that it was team India he was playing for and not for individual captains. Yuvraj Singh himself was a contender for the post of the Indian captaincy but Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s meteoric rise put Yuvraj Singh’s name on the back burner.