"Careers of 7 players were put into the gutter" - Yograj Singh's scathing attack on India's mismanagement of 2011 ODI World Cup-winning squad

Former Indian cricketer Yograj Singh criticized the selectors for swiftly moving away from several players who contributed to the side's 2011 ODI World Cup victory. Despite winning only a second 50-over World Cup and the first since 1983, all but three of the players from the squad had the opportunity to defend their title.

Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni, and Ravichandran Ashwin were part of the Indian squads in the 2011 and 2015 ODI World Cups. However, the other players from the 2011 edition at home played no part in the following World Cup, which was held in Australia and New Zealand.

In an interview with Inside Sport, Yograj blasted the selectors at that time by saying:

"You (BCCI selectors) just destroyed these boys for no reason. Boys like Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Mohammed Kaif, VVS Laxman, Rahul Dravid. You just made them go after 2011. You just destroyed the team after the 2011 World Cup. The careers of 7 players were put into the gutter."

Yograj added that Dhoni was almost replaced at that time as India were in the middle of a losing run.

"We lost 5 series when MS Dhoni was the captain and, he was told he would be replaced, by Mohinder Amarnath, but that’s not the way to do it," he said.

India could not repeat as champions in the 2015 ODI World Cup, losing to the eventual winners, Australia, in the semi-final.

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"I promised him that I will help him become India captain" - Yograj Singh on his son Yuvraj Singh

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Yograj Singh recalled his sentiments during son Yuvraj Singh's retirement [Credit: Getty]

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Yograj Singh recalled asking his son, Yuvraj Singh, not to retire by promising him Indian captaincy. However, it was to no avail, as the former spin-bowling all-rounder walked away from international cricket in 2019 after playing his last game for India in the West Indian tour in 2017.

Yuvraj was the Player of the Tournament in India's triumphant 2011 ODI World Cup run despite battling cancer.

"Even when Yuvraj was retiring I promised him that I will help him become India captain and that we will throw everybody out but he quit," said Yograj (via Inside Sport).

Yuvraj was dropped from the Indian side after the 2014 T20 World Cup but made a comeback in early 2016. However, he played only a year and a half until mid-2017 before his eventual international retirement in 2019.

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