Yuvraj Singh pointed out lack of support and clarity as one of the major reason for India’s failure at the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. The former Indian international, who hit out at the national selectors for finding excuses to keep him out of the Indian team, rued the lack of support from the management for both him and those that replaced him in the national cricket team. India were knocked out of the 2019 World Cup after a shock semi-final defeat to New Zealand. India had topped the league stages and were the favourites to play the final but a top-order collapse followed by an inconsistent and unsettled middle-order left them 18 agonising runs behind and resulted in the ouster from CWC 2019. Yuvraj Singh Claims Selectors Found Excuses to Drop Him After He Passed Yo-Yo Test, Calls the Snub Unfair.

India’s biggest struggle throughout the World Cup and times preceding and following it, however, has been the contentious No. 4 position where the men in blue have tried several batsmen but not have really managed to cement their place. During CWC 2019, India tried the quartet of KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Vijay Shankar and Dinesh Karthik but all failed. To Yuvraj, however, more than their inconsistency and poor form, it is the lack of faith and regularity that have hurt India – and the players involved – the most.

“You have to identify what is the best talent available and then you have to back that talent,” said Yuvraj in an interview with Aaj Tak. “For e.g. me and Mohammad Kaif during the 2003 World Cup. Everybody was failing badly in New Zealand but almost the same team played in the 2003 World Cup. Cut to the 2019 WC team: I was dropped, then Manish Pandey came in, then after 1-2 more players KL (Rahul) was also tried, (Suresh) Raina came back and then they went with Rayudu who played for 8-9 months and scored a 90 in NZ, Man of the Match. And the team should have been set there.

“But before the WC, we lost to Australia and Rayudu had a bad tournament and suddenly Vijay Shankar came in. The selectors should have understood the importance of the No. 4 position, especially in England. Vijay Shankar and Rishabh Pant didn’t have that experience.

"Dinesh Karthik was an experienced guy but was sitting out and suddenly goes to bat in the semis. So I really didn’t understand the thinking. I think that was the main reason why India didn’t win the WC. I thought India and England were the best teams and there is no reason that India shouldn’t have played the final,” said the former left-handed batsman."

The 37-year-old also spoke on his regrets of not playing another World Cup after the 2011 heroics at home. "That regret will be with me. But people should be happy for me too that after such a grave illness [cancer during the 2011 World Cup], after struggling in domestic cricket for two years, working hard, I made a comeback and scored my highest ODI score [150 in January 2017, against England from 25 for 3]. That is also a big achievement. That is the other side.

“Yes, there will be regret, but there was a number of issues. There was no support, hardly any support from the team management or people around. If that support had been there, I would have played another World Cup. Whatever cricket I have played, I have played on my own terms. I didn't have a godfather. I feel proud that I have played so much cricket despite the illness."

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 27, 2019 05:13 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).