Former India cricketer Yograj Singh, father of all-round great Yuvraj Singh, has once again courted controversy with his sharp criticism of Indian cricket’s leadership post the Sourav Ganguly era. In a fresh outburst, Yograj indirectly targeted MS Dhoni, blaming him for what he believes was a toxic culture shift in the Indian dressing room and the unceremonious exits of several star cricketers.
Yuvraj Singh, a pivotal figure in India’s white-ball success during the 2000s and a hero of the 2011 World Cup, saw his national appearances dwindle following his return from cancer recovery. Dhoni was captain during this time, and Yograj has repeatedly blamed him for sidelining his son.
In an interaction with InsideSport, Yograj nostalgically reflected on the team atmosphere under Ganguly, contrasting it sharply with what followed later:
“(We had) Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Javagal Srinath, Anil Kumble, and others. Bhajji (Harbhajan Singh), Yuvi (Yuvraj), Viru (Virender Sehwag), (Mohammed) Kaif, Zaheer (Khan) among youngsters. Combination of elder and younger brothers. That’s why they could lead the youngsters and become the greatest of all time.
And what we did? We burned out the whole house by just standing for one person. I won’t name him. Where is he? See what happened,” said Yograj.
The former cricketer went on to emphasize how love and mutual respect built legends:
“When you give love, you get people like Sachin, Yuvi, Gambhir, Viru. They will never go down the drain. They will always be stars.”
Yograj didn’t hold back in attacking the BCCI selectors, accusing them of discarding World Cup-winning players without dignity or proper farewell.
“You (BCCI selectors) just destroyed these boys for no reason,” he said.
“Boys like Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Mohammed Kaif, VVS Laxman, Rahul Dravid. You just made them go after 2011.”
Many of the players named by Yograj were either dropped or gradually faded from India’s plans in the 18 months following the 2011 World Cup win. While Kaif hadn’t featured in the squad during that campaign, Dravid and Laxman were still active in Test cricket and retired the following year.
This latest outburst adds to a string of fiery remarks Yograj has made over the years, particularly in defense of his son Yuvraj and others he believes were “wronged” during leadership transitions in Indian cricket.