The way I was managed at the end of my career was very unprofessional: Yuvraj Singh

Former veteran cricketer Yuvraj Singh recently opened up about the end of his international career. He also opined on him not getting a deserved farewell from the cricket board. Though Yuvraj said that he didn’t mind not getting a farewell, he would have enjoyed being treated with a little more respect at the end of his international career.

The swashbuckling batsman announced his retirement from all formats of the game on June 10, 2019 after having almost 20 years of experience in international cricket. However, he last played for India in 2017 and wasn’t selected in the team afterwards.

Speaking in an interview with Indranil Basu and Shanivi Sadana on Sportskeeda’s ‘Free Hit’ show, the 38-year-old said, “First of all, I don’t think I’m a legend. I’ve played the game with integrity but I didn’t play much Test cricket. Legendary players are those who have good Test records. For giving somebody a farewell, that’s not for me to decide, that’s for BCCI to decide.”

The Chandigarh-born cricketer also stated that the way the board manages cricketers at the end of their careers is very unprofessional and disrespecting. He named Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan as an example of players who were badly mismanaged by the authorities.

“I just felt that the way they managed me towards the end of my career was very unprofessional. But looking back at a couple of great players like Harbhajan, Sehwag, Zaheer Khan, also very badly mismanaged. So it is part of Indian cricket, I had seen it in the past and I was not really surprised,” Yuvraj added.

Sehwag has been the biggest match-winner in Tests: Yuvraj Singh

The all-rounder candidly spoke on how match-winners like Gautam Gambhir and VVS Laxman were not treated well by the board despite playing vital roles for the Indian cricket team over the years. He also touched on the fact that the cricketers who give their life to the game should be honoured properly in the future.

“But in the future, anybody who has played for India for a long time and has been through tough situations, you should definitely honour him. Give him that respect, somebody like Gautam Gambhir, who has won two World Cups for us. Sehwag, who has been the biggest match-winner after Sunil Gavaskar in Tests. VVS, Zaheer, also,” said the southpaw.

A career that spanned over 304 ODIs, 58 T20Is, and 40 Tests, Yuvraj established himself as a player who could pretty much win matches for his side either through his electric fielding, deceiving bowling or fierce batting.