Yuvraj Singh believes the current Indian cricket team lacks seniors who can be looked up to. The 38-year-old made the observation during a live conversation with Rohit Sharma on Instagram on Tuesday.
Singh said that there is one key difference he sees between the current team and the one that he was a part of.
“When I came into the team or when you [Sharma] came into the team, our seniors were very disciplined. Obviously there was no social media so there were no distractions,” said Singh.
“There was a certain way in which we youngsters had to behave. How the seniors spoke with people, how they talked to the media – we kept learning from them. Because they were the ambassadors of the game and the country.”
Singh said that because the team combination changes with each format, there aren’t enough players who play consistently and command respect.
“After playing for India, you have to be more careful about your image. But I feel the third generation. You [Sharma] and Virat Kohli are the only one who are playing all the formats, the rest of the guys are coming and going. Which is why I feel there are very few guys to look up to and I feel that a sense of respect towards seniors, that has become a thin line now. Koi bhi kisiko kuch bhi keh deta hain [anyone says anything to anyone],” said Singh.
On the incident involving Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul, who were suspended by the Board of Control for Cricket in India for their comments on a chat show, Singh said: “That incident could not have happened in our time.”
Sharma said he agreed with Singh and that he tries to guide the youngsters in the team as much as he can.
“When I came into the team, there were so many seniors. I think I was the only youngster along with Piyush Chawla and Suresh Raina. The atmosphere is light now. I keep talking to the youngsters, the five-six of them. I speak with Rishabh [Pant] a lot. There was so much scrutiny on him and he got worked up. The media should also think before writing about him. But scrutiny will be there as long as you are playing for India,” said Sharma.
On the mindset of the younger generation, Singh said most of them only want to play limited overs cricket.
“Sachin [Tendulkar] paaji told me once ‘if you perform on field, everything else will follow’. I was at the National Cricket Academy once and I interacted with the younger lot. I felt most of them did not want to play Test cricket, they didn’t even want to play days matches for their state team. They are happy playing one-day cricket. But Test cricket is real cricket,” said Singh.
“I feel even the players who have already played for India should play domestic cricket when they are not on national duty. It would give them valuable experience of playing on different surfaces around the country.”
(With inputs from PTI)
