Shocking! Yuvraj Singh wasn't part of the selectors' plan for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011! Check who put his case forward

Yuvraj Singh won Player of the Tournament award in ICC Cricket World Cup 2011.

Former Indian head coach Gary Kirsten has made a massive statement about Yuvraj Singh. He revealed that the former all-rounder wasn’t guaranteed a spot in the team for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 but he and skipper MS Dhoni were keen to have him in the team.

One of the major reasons behind India winning the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 was all-rounder Yuvraj Singh. Battling cancer, the former all-rounder gave his best with the bat and ball and helped his team win the title after a long wait of 28 years. 

Yuvraj Singh, who wasn’t fit, gave his all for the country. He played a key role in the entire tournament with bat and ball and ended up winning Player of the Tournament award, which says a lot about the kind of impact he made for India. 

Yuvraj Singh slammed 362 runs at an average of 90.50, including one century and four fifties in eight innings in the tournament. Not only this, he was sensational with the ball as well, picking 15 wickets at an average of 25.13 with the best of 5/31.

Gary Kirsten, who was the coach of India in the tournament, was in awe of Yuvraj Singh. He said that although the all-rounder irritated him but he always wanted him to score runs in all the games. Speaking to Rediff, he said: 

“I was always very fond of Yuvraj. He used to frustrate the hell out of me sometimes, but I just loved him. He was good. I just wanted him to be scoring runs all the time because watching him bat was amazing,” Kirsten said. 

I was very keen to have him in the team as was Dhoni – Gary Kirsten

Gary Kirsten revealed that Yuvraj Singh wasn’t guaranteed a place in the squad for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, but he worked hard with the mental conditioning coach Paddy Upton. He added: 

“Thank goodness we picked him because it was flipping close, he was. It was not a slam-dunk selection. The selectors kind of debated around the 15 players. I was very keen to have him in the team as was Dhoni, because of the experience that he brought to the group. And look at the World Cup he ended up having.” 

“There was a journey he had to walk, and credit to Paddy. Paddy did a lot of work with Yuvi to get him ready. Yuvi himself made some key decisions to prepare for the World Cup.” 

Yuvraj Singh arguably was one of the best all-rounders to have played for India. He played 304 ODIs and slammed 8,701 runs with 14 centuries and 52 fifties. With the ball, he took 111 wickets.

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