The decision of including Yuvraj Singh in ODI and T-20 matches was indeed a good one and fans were super-happy on this. This was after Dhoni resigned from captaincy and Virat was officially announced as the new captain. The inclusion of Ashish Nehra and Yuvraj Singh had come as a surprise and had left everyone thinking.
Everyone was wondering as to why Yuvraj, aged 35 and Nehra, aged 37 were included in the team; I am sure even you might be having the same question. But finally, this query has been answered!
Yes, in his latest interview, Virat shed light on the reason behind including Yuvi in the team. Kohli referred to the match in which Yuvraj scored 77 runs in 35 balls chasing 201 against Australia on 10th Oct 2013. He said;
“Yes, that (experience) is something we have discussed before picking Yuvi because we cannot leave so much burden on MS (Dhoni) alone in the middle order. I am willing to take up responsibility up the order, but there needs to be one more guy with him (Dhoni) down the order in case the top order doesn’t fire.”
This means Dhoni was responsible to some extent for including Yuvraj in the team. As a captain, Kohli did rigorous planning and didn’t want to burden MSD in the middle order.
Talking further about the necessity of a good combination, Kohli said
“If the top order doesn’t fire you are left with MS alone and he is guiding the youngsters more often than not. Which is fine, if you have 15-20 games till a big tournament (begins). But when you have only three games to prepare for a big tournament, I think you need to get all your resources in place. “You need to make sure the guys who have been picked are in good form.”
Earlier, they were considering Ambati Rayudu for the ODI series, but then changed their mind as he didn’t have game time and was injured since a long time. According to Virat, inclusion of Yuvi was definitely a smart decision.
He said
“We had discussed Rayudu as well, but he has been injured for a long time and didn’t have game-time behind him. Yuvi has had a very good first-class season, so obviously he was into the team before anyone else. So, I think this just gives the team much more balance in the middle and lower-middle order with MS and Yuvi. They can really guide Kedar (Jadhav) and Hardik (Pandya) still with them, but to have two experienced guys compared to one is a massive difference. I am sure Hardik and Kedar can learn a lot from them, batting along with them.”
The decision of giving the captaincy to Virat was 100% right. He is planning well and is doing everything possible to ensure team India wins.