Despite being sitting out of the Indian national squad, all-rounder Yuvraj Singh reckons that he will continue playing cricket till 2019 before taking a call on his retirement. Yuvraj, who last played for India in June 2017 in an ODI, said the upcoming IPL will be crucial to deciding his fate for a spot in the 2019 World Cup.

During the sidelines of the 18th Laureus World Sports Awards, Yuvi said, “I am looking forward to a good IPL. It’s a very important tournament for me as it will only set me to play cricket until 2019. I am looking to play cricket till 2019, whatever cricket I get to play and take a call after that.”

Also read: Yuvraj Singh Reveals His Post Retirement Plans

Till the 2011 World Cup, Yuvraj was the mainstay of the Indian team but after that, his career was jeopardized by a rare germ cell cancer, Yuvraj’s only regret was that he could not cement his place in the Indian Test side. He said, “Definitely, in the first 6-7 years of my career when I was at my best, did not get a lot of opportunities because there were such great players in the (Test) team and when I got an opportunity I was diagnosed with cancer. So that regret will always be there but these things are never in my control. I am just looking forward to whatever cricket I get to play.”

Yuvraj is a Laureus ambassador from India, praised Virat Kohli and his men for the successful South Africa tour. He said, “I think it is a pretty great performance. They showed a lot of character after losing the Test series. It was as a hard-fought Test series, could have gone either way. But it was a very convincing win in the ODI series. Kohli led from the front with some big runs.”

He further added, “Spinners bowled very well especially Kuldeep (Yadav) and (Yuzvendra) Chahal and got South Africa into trouble. And then they stepped on the gas and won the T20 series 2-1. Going abroad playing three series winning two definitely shows Indias dominance.”

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Yuvraj lauded Kohli

Kohli might have set the high standard and will be looking forward to winning upcoming tours of England and Australia but Yuvraj said India will need consistent performances from the players to achieve the goal. He said, “It’s a good start to believe that you can dominate outside. If you can consistently do that in England and Australia you definitely will have the belief. Now the team is set to conquer the world. England and Australia will be testing series but if we can get some consistent performances it will give a lot of self-belief to the players.”

Yuvraj concluded by giving some crucial tips for India’s U-19 stars who recently lifted the World Cup, he said, “I think Prithvi, Shubman, Abhishek Sharma are great talents and hopefully in the next coming years we will see them play for India. I am sure the IPL will give them a great platform to learn from other international players and feel the hype of international cricket. So it’s very important tournament for them and they should enjoy it.”