Is Virat Kohli Responsible for the Ouster of Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina?
Updated - 08 Jun 2023, 03:18 PM
Two veteran Indian cricketers Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina are currently out of the Indian team as there have been reports that both failed the yo-yo test which has become mandatory for any Indian player to pass to be eligible for Team India selection. It has become criteria and by the look of things, the duo doesn’t have that fitness level to match up to the newbies of the Indian team. The whole team is agile, and at times Yuvraj was found wanting in the field during the Champions Trophy.
He also looked out of touch as the tournament progressed and was eventually dropped from the team. He made his international return after consistent performances in the domestic level and also scored his highest ODI score earlier in the year, but the consistency hasn’t been there which has eventually led to his ouster from the team.
On the other hand, Suresh Raina has been out of the ODI team for more than two years now. He last donned the Indian ODI colours in October 2015 when India lost their last bilateral series at home to South Africa. It was, in fact, Virat Kohli who backed Yuvraj Singh to be part of the team ahead of the England series earlier in the year but the southpaw hasn’t been able to leave up to his captain’s expectations.
There is no way that Kohli has played a part in both of them getting dropped from the team. Yuvraj hasn’t played enough cricket in the past five years, and the stats given below it indicates that he has been the sole reason for his decline and so has been the case with Raina. He hasn’t been a consistent performer even in the domestic circuit which hasn’t allowed him to force his way back into the team.
Both got enough chances to prove themselves but wasn’t consistent enough to be part of this team which is currently winning everything coming their way. So by no means, Virat Kohli is responsible for the ouster of these two senior members.
Now let us have a look at the last five year ODI statistics of the two batsmen
Yuvraj Singh
| Span | Matches | Innings | NO | Runs | HS | Avg | SR | 100’s | 50’s |
| 2012 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2.00 | 66.16 | 0 | 0 |
| 2013 | 18 | 15 | 1 | 276 | 61 | 19.71 | 73.40 | 0 | 2 |
| 2017 | 11 | 10 | 1 | 372 | 150 | 41.33 | 93.67 | 1 | 1 |
Suresh Raina
| Span | Matches | Innings | NO | Runs | HS | Avg | SR | 100’s | 50’s |
| 2012 | 17 | 17 | 5 | 492 | 65* | 41.00 | 96.85 | 0 | 4 |
| 2013 | 34 | 27 | 5 | 770 | 89* | 35.00 | 84.52 | 0 | 5 |
| 2014 | 17 | 16 | 2 | 539 | 100 | 38.50 | 114.68 | 1 | 3 |
| 2015 | 20 | 17 | 1 | 517 | 110* | 32.31 | 99.42 | 1 | 4 |
Tagged:
India National Cricket Team News Suresh Raina Virat Kohli Yuvraj Singh
