Former India batter Gautam Gambhir backed Yuvraj Singh as the greatest-ever white-ball player in the past. Yuvraj is one of the greatest match-winners that India has ever produced, especially in limited-overs cricket as well. However, both the players have shared the dressing room for India during their playing days. They were also part of Team India’s World Cup-winning campaigns in 2007 and 2011 as well.
Explaining why he considers Yuvraj Singh the greatest white-ball player of all time, Gambhir opined on Yuvraj’s ability to win games across all three formats of the game as well.
“Just take a look at Yuvraj Singh’s contribution in the 2007 T20 World Cup, look at his innings against Australia and England. Consider his contribution in the 2011 ODI World Cup. So, I just reminded the world of Yuvraj Singh’s achievements. I just tried reminding everyone of it and talk about the player, whose contributions helped India win 2 World Cups,” Gambhir said in an exclusive interaction with Sportskeeda. “Yuvraj Singh is still, in my eyes, the greatest white ball player ever. No one has been better than him, and no one in India still is. The reason is that, you have to look at his contribution with the ball and the field as well. You also have to look at his batting position. Back then, there was only one white ball, there were five fielders outside the circle. So, if you consider all of these things, and then judge the performances, then no is better than Yuvraj.”
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However, he had played crucial knocks in the knockout stages of both the 2007 T20 World Cup as well as the 2011 ODI World Cup. He was also named player of the tournament for his performances in the 2011 ODI World Cup. Gambhir also said that Yuvraj Singh’s performances are not talked about enough as well.
“Nowadays, there are 2 new balls, four fielders outside the circle for the majority part, DRS. So, from that point of view, I don’t think there is any other player who can match Yuvraj Singh’s performances. So, I did not say anything wrong. Unfortunately, we do not talk about Yuvraj enough, there are many reasons for it, and the less I say about it, the better,” Gambhir again shared.
Meanwhile, Gautam Gambhir also stated that Yuvraj Singh’s Test record could have improved with time, and he could be a formidable red-ball player as well along with white-ball cricket as well.
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“He scored a triple century in the Cooch Behar final against Bihar and after that I had no doubt that Yuvraj Singh will play International cricket. He did not surprise me even a little bit with what he achieved at the international level. The only thing that was surprising is the fact I believe that he should have played more Test cricket. Had he played more Tests, his record would have improved and it would have been similar to his white-ball numbers. I remember how Yuvraj Singh struggled with his health in the 2011 World Cup, and the best part is, he did not let anyone know. This shows when you play for India, how much it matters. I have played against Yuvraj at the U-19 level, even then, his quality and skill levels were unbelievable,” Gautam Gambhir concluded.
