How many captains in past have stepped down: Yuvraj Singh defends Rohit Sharma

Yuvraj Singh, the former all-rounder, has backed beleaguered India cricket team captain Rohit Sharma and has said that his body of work over a period of three or five yeas should be considered before judging him.

“I have said it before also. I always look at the graph of a team for what they have done over the last five years or three years,” said Yuvraj Singh at an event held by Mumbai Heroes for the Celebrity Cricket League (CCL). Among others present were people from film fraternity like Sohail Khan, who owns Mumbai Heroes, Manoj Tiwary, Saqib Saleem and CCL owner Vishnu Indori.

Two matches of CCL will be played in Delhi, including the first one on February 9.

“Talk about Rohit Sharma and Gautam Gambhir. Gautam has just come into the system. Rohit Sharma has won T20 World Cup as captain. He was captain when India played the World Cup final. Mumbai Indians won five IPL championship. Rohit has been the captain all five times.”

Yuvraj, who was the Player of the Tournament in the 2011 World Cup for his all-round show, lavished praise on Rohit Sharma’s leadership despite the India skipper facing criticism following Test series defeats against New Zealand and Australia.

“The guy has stepped down from the last Test match and given somebody else the chance. How many captains have done that in the past. Please tell me. You look at how he is not performing. I look at what he has done in the last 3-4 years. You can’t judge performance based on one tournament.

“For me, what was more questionable was the 3-0 loss to New Zealand at home. That is a tougher pill to swallow.”

The 43-year-old also called upon all players, including seniors like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, to give importance to domestic cricket.  

"Domestic cricket is important. I have always felt that if you have time and you are not performing, you should definitely come and play domestic cricket. That is the best way to get practice and game-time.

“If you have the time and if you are not injured, you should play domestic cricket,” said Yuvraj.

He, however, refrained from answering any question on why certain players like Abhimanyu Easwaran or Karun Nair are not getting opportunity to play for India despite doing well in domestic cricket.

“I am not a selector so can’t comment on why certain players aren’t getting opportunity despite performing in domestic cricket. I feel whoever has performed, they have got opportunity to play for India. Sarfaraz Khan performed outstandingly in domestic cricket, he got to play for India. There are players who have performed but haven’t got chances. It is your destiny.”

Tags : India cricket team, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Australia, Celebrity Cricket League, Sohail Khan, Manoj Tiwary