Yuvraj reacts furiously to Ravi Shastri’s ‘phasing out seniors’ statement
Yuvraj Singh India’s World Cup-winning all-rounder has reacted strongly to former head coach Ravi Shastri’s statement where he said that senior players should be phased out from the team once youngsters are ready to take the team forward.
In the words of Ravi Shastri “There are seniors ready to be phased out and there are youngsters ready, no question about it when it comes to T20 cricket. Lesser in 50-over cricket and even fewer in Test match cricket. Due to the IPL, there are a lot of high-quality youngsters available,” Shastri told the Week.
Yuvraj responded to the statement and didn’t hold back and said that there should be clear communication with the seniors if the selectors of thinking of replacing them with the youngsters.
War of Words
“If Ravi Shastri says seniors should be phased out, then someone should also tell it to the seniors. The problem in India is the seniors are not told. They have given their heart and soul for the country and they deserve respect. You need to have that talk that ‘Look, it might be hard on you but maybe you might not be looked at’,” Yuvraj told the Week.
The Appreciation
Meanwhile, Yuvraj has appreciated India’s chief selector Ajit Agarkar as he feels that the former Indian fast bowler will have tough conversations with players who are not in the team’s plans going ahead. In the words of Yuvraj, “We have a very good chief selector now (Agarkar) who has played for the country for a long time. I feel he can have that tough conversation and tell the seniors where they’re at if the plan is to bring in youngsters. Tell the guys where they are,” he added.
Yuvraj’s statement has come after various senior players were left out of the team without proper communication with respect to the reason why they were left out of the team. A classic example of this was Yuvraj Singh himself when the all-rounder was dropped from the team after a decent performance in the 2017 Champions Trophy. He retired after waiting two years for a comeback during the 2019 World Cup
