I was expecting to captain Team India in the 2007 T20 World Cup ahead of MS Dhoni: Yuvraj Singh

Yuvraj Singh, the former Indian cricketer, stated that he was expecting to be made the skipper of the national team for the 2007 T20 World Cup. However, the selectors went for MS Dhoni, who was only in his third year of international cricket. In 2007, the Men in Blue were reeling from their dismal show in the 50-overs World Cup where they were knocked out after the first round.

It was also Dhoni’s maiden assignment as the skipper of Team India at the highest level and he got off to a stupendous start, guiding his side to becoming the champions. Despite not having the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, and Rahul Dravid in the tournament, India came out trumps.

Going down the memory lane, Yuvraj said that though he didn’t get the role of captaincy, he tried to be a ‘team man’. In six games in the tournament, Yuvraj smashed 148 runs and picked up one wicket.

End of the day you want to be a team man and that’s how I was: Yuvraj Singh

“So, basically, India had lost the 50-over World Cup, right? I mean there was quite a turmoil in Indian cricket and then there was a two-month tour of England and there was also a month tour in between with South Africa and Ireland. And then there was a month of T20 World Cup so there were like four months away from home.

“So probably the seniors thought that they need a break and obviously, nobody took the T20 World Cup seriously. I was expecting to captain India in the T20 World Cup and then it was announced MS Dhoni will be the captain,” Yuvraj told on the 22 Yarns podcast.

“Yes, obviously, whoever becomes captain you got to support that guy whether it was Rahul, whether it was [Sourav] Ganguly, whoever in the future, end of the day you want to be a team man and that’s how I was,” Yuvraj added.

In the mega event, Yuvraj recorded the then fastest T20 half-century off 12 balls and also smashed Stuart Broad for six sixes in an over. In the semi-final against Australia, he scored 70 runs and took India to the final.