Veteran India all-rounder Yuvraj Singh has voiced his disappointment over Abhishek Sharma not being handed the Sunrisers Hyderabad captaincy, despite his long association with the side. The franchise recently named Ishan Kishan as the stand-in skipper in place of injured Pat Cummins, with Abhishek appointed as vice-captain. Kishan only joined the team last season, but his leadership stint with Jharkhand in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, followed by an impressive T20 World Cup campaign, strengthened his case. Meanwhile, Abhishek, who played a key role in SRH’s run to the 2024 final, was overlooked for the top job.
Yuvraj, who has been a mentor figure in Abhishek’s cricketing life for the past few years, didn’t hold back while explaining why the swashbuckling opener’s missing out on the SRH captaincy didn’t sit right with him. Drawing a sharp contrast, he flipped the roles of Abhishek and Ishan to underline how such decisions can affect a player’s mindset and sense of belonging within a franchise setup.
“I was a bit disappointed. I also love Ishan Kishan. I have seen his growth in Indian cricket as well. Let me give you an example from the player’s perspective: if you switch it, Abhishek Sharma came into the team before the World Cup, his state team won, he scored 100, then he came into the World Cup team, Abhishek Sharma scored runs, India won the World Cup, and then they made Abhishek the captain. In franchise cricket, Ishan Kishan has been playing for one franchise for seven years, performing, giving his heart and soul for the franchise, then he is captaining the state, and then he does not get the captaincy, he gets the vice-captaincy. What frame of mind will he play franchise cricket with, without disappointment? But the good thing is that he said he has a good relationship with Ishan,” Yuvraj said on Sports Tak.
Yuvraj drew from his own time in the Indian dressing room to explain Abhishek’s situation, recalling how MS Dhoni was handed the captaincy for the 2007 T20 World Cup, despite not being part of the leadership group earlier, while more experienced names like Yuvraj were overlooked, highlighting how such decisions can be tough to take from a player’s point of view.
“For example, when I was in the Indian team, Bhajji was senior, Sehwag was senior, then I was somewhere, I was the vice-captain. This is about 2007. But out of nowhere, MS Dhoni comes and becomes captain, whatever the reasons were. When MS Dhoni was made captain, it was like someone destined to captain and do great things for India. That’s going to happen. But I’m just saying from a player’s perspective, it’s disappointing when someone has done so much for you in so many years,” Yuvraj added.
“It happened to me too”
Continuing his take, Yuvraj Singh stressed that setbacks like these should be used as fuel, revealing he had a candid chat with Abhishek Sharma about putting disappointment aside and channelling it into stronger performances for Sunrisers Hyderabad, even as he questioned the thinking behind the captaincy call.
“I mean, tomorrow if Hyderabad wins, which I don’t think will happen, I think their bowling is very weak, very weak. I don’t think so. So tomorrow my words may also turn out wrong, and I’m okay to take that criticism. But my point is that you have to, you know, give the captaincy, then only a player learns. I think IPL is a great stage to learn. I think communication is important, but I feel that whoever took the decision, on what basis, I don’t know. I’m just saying if this happened to me, which has happened to me, then I have to be very clear: listen, this happened, I felt disappointed. And I also spoke to Abhishek: now we are going to put this disappointment aside,” I’m going to support my captain and try to do even better because something has hurt me. Now I will push harder and do better” – That should be your motivation,” he added.
