Veteran India batsman Yuvraj Singh rued that he could never settle with any particular team in the Indian Premier League despite being among the most sought after players for the better part of his career.
The swashbuckling all-rounder, who retired last month, represented six different franchises and was part of two IPL winning teams – Sunrisers Hyderabad (2016) and Mumbai Indians (2019).
In the 2014 auctions, Yuvraj was the most expensive player of the IPL history after Royal Challengers Bangalore won an intense bid with Kolkata Knight Riders for a whopping Rs 14 crore.
But the 37-year-old was never identified with a team such as MS Dhoni at Chennai Super Kings’ or Virat Kohli for Royal Challengers Bangalore.
“I can’t explain but I was never settled with a franchise...I didn’t really get settled where you are made to play for one franchise or maybe two,” Yuvraj said after receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 91st annual general meeting of the Indian Chambers of Commerce in Kolkata.
“I almost joined Kolkata Knight Riders in but last moment [in the auctions], I went to RCB. I probably had my best IPL season with RCB. It was unfortunate not to come to KKR,” he recalled.
Yuvraj was instrumental in Sunrisers Hyderabad only IPL triumph in 2016 but went unsold in the first round of bidding this year after being sold to Mumbai Indians at his base price of Rs 1 crore.
“I can’t really complain about it. It was great working with all these teams.” he said. He added, “Being with Mumbai Indians and winning the championship, and also winning for Sunrisers was a great experience.”
‘I was my day’
Yuvraj had taken the inaugural World Twenty20 by storm, smashing six sixes in a row against English pacer Stuart Broad during India’s triumphant campaign in 2007.
“The inaugural World Twenty in 2007 changed world cricket, especially in T20. It was just my day. The fifth ball was a yorker and still I managed to hit that out of the park. It was my day,” he said.
“It was a phenomenal tournament. It took cricket to the next level. Nobody was expecting us to win it and we played fearless cricket. We had a new captain. We just out went there and expressed ourselves.”