Mumbai: Yuvraj Singh thought his career was over after the 2014 World T20 final against Sri Lanka where he was targeted for his slow knock as India lost the summit clash, the former batsman revealed on Tuesday.
Yuvraj had managed a 21-ball 11 before getting out as India crawled to 130/4 in 20 overs, going on to lose the tie by six wickets against the Lankans in Dhaka.
The 2011 World Cup hero was slammed by media and fans after that, and the 38-year old said he felt like a villain who had killed someone.
“I always take full responsibility (for that inning). I did not play well. Unfortunately, that was a World Cup final. If it was any other game, scrutiny would not have been much. When I got back home, I felt like I was a villain. I remember getting out from the airport and luckily I had my headphones on…I got attacked by the media and they were literally shouting at me,” Yuvraj said on Sportscreen’s YouTube page.
“Yes there were some stones in my house as well. I felt like a culprit, like somebody has shot somebody and was going to jail. I bounced back from it. I still remember how I felt in that moment.
“I remember Sachin (Tendulkar) tweeting that day and people actually understood. I went home and I remember I had the six sixes’ (2007 T20 World Cup against England) bat. I put my India cap on the six sixes bat and I thought my career was over,” said the dashing left-hander who retired from international cricket last year after playing for India in 40 Tests, 304 ODIs and 58 T20Is.
Yuvraj, who has played for a number of franchises in the Indian Premier League (IPL) also said he had a torrid time at Kings XI Punjab and wanted to run away from the franchise.
“I never got the opportunity to play for one franchise for like 3-4 years. So guys like Virat (Kohli), (MS) Dhoni, Rohit (Sharma) they have played for one franchise for so many years. You have a base. I could not really settle.
“One place I wanted to run away was Kings XI Punjab (KXIP). Every time I wanted a player, they did not give me. It was amazing when I left they had bought the same players. I was just like captain for the sake of it. I loved playing for Punjab but wanted to get away from that franchise.”
