Ahead of the next year’s T20 World Cup, former cricket sensation Yuvraj Singh has slammed the team management for the World Cup defeat of 2019 in the semi-finals against New Zealand. India had lost to New Zealand in the semi-finals after a batting order collapse. In an interview with a cricket website, Singh opined that India deserved to be in the finals of the 2019 World Cup but due to lack of clarity and stability, the batting order collapsed against New Zealand. Singh added that the players should be given support and they should feel secure in order to give their best performance.

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Regrets on Retirement and India's 2019 World Cup loss

On his retirement, Singh believed that he deserved another shot to enter the international cricket but blamed the lack of support by the team management which left him with the regret of not playing another World Cup after his man of the tournament performance in India’s 2011 World Cup victory. He said that he had a good record in his latest comeback which lasted for 11 matches with an average of 41.33 and strike rate of 98.67 where he was announced man of the match in two matches. He was left out and wasn’t given the due chance when he cleared the endurance test later. He believes that the team management lacked trust in him, and the same lack of trust was seen in his replacements Manish Pandey, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Vijay Shankar, Rishabh Pant and Dinesh Karthik, which was the reason for India's failure at the 2019 World Cup.

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Yuvraj Singh on Rishabh Pant's performance 

Yuvraj Singh, in his support to the wicket-keeper batsman, opined that Pant has proved his talent in domestic as well as international cricket. However, his poor shot selection in the 2019 World Cup needed more attention from the team management, selectors and coaches than mere criticism. Singh said that the team management can’t get the best out of Pant by suppressing him. Instead, the batting coach should sit with Pant and understand his mindset and mental make-up to improve his performance. Adding further, he conveyed that big hitters are always under the scanner for their performance.

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