Former Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) batsman Robin Uthappa has strongly criticized the way Virat Kohli and the then team management treated Indian batting legend Yuvraj Singh after his battle with lung cancer in 2011.

Uthappa, who was part of the Indian T20 World Cup-winning team in 2007 alongside Yuvraj, spoke about how Kohli had never allowed him to return to the national team due to his fitness.

Shortly after the 2011 ODI World Cup triumph, where he was awarded Player of the Tournament, Yuvraj was diagnosed with lung cancer for which he underwent treatment in the US. He returned in 2012 but was soon sidelined after an inconsistent streak with the bat in a home season in 2013.

The left-hander did not play international cricket between April 2014 and January 2016, a period when the Indian captaincy was passing from MS Dhoni to Virat Kohli.

Speaking to Lallantop Uthappa revealed:

“Take the example of Yuvi Pa (Yuvraj). The man defeated cancer, he won us two World Cups. When he tried to return to the international stage after beating cancer, the leaders never gave him the chance.”

Kohli, known for having strict fitness standards for all national team players, had no leeway for Yuvraj, who was never the same after recovering from cancer.

“Yuvraj had requested that the fitness threshold be reduced by two points due to his health status at that time. Yuvi has won tournaments for the country and deserved some protection but Virat as captain did not give it to him,” Uthappa said.

Robin Uthappa blames Virat Kohli for Yuvraj Singh’s retirement.

The former CSK and KKR batsman said that despite the rejection, Yuvraj persevered but the team expelled him as soon as he earned his place in the team after clearing the fitness tests.

Yuvraj played his last international match in an ODI against the West Indies in June 2017. He announced his retirement in 2019 when his performances dropped considerably.

“When you’re a captain, I know you have to maintain some standards. But there are exceptions to everything. Being match fit is very different from cricket fitness. You can score a lot of runs just by being fit,” Uthappa added.

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Kohli currently finds himself in a similar position to Yuvraj when he was captain, as his poor performances in the Border Gavaskar Trophy have put his place in the team in doubt.

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