For years, Yograj Singh, the father of Yuvraj Singh, has publicly blamed former India captain MS Dhoni for his son being dropped from the national team. However, former India cricketer Sandeep Patil has now addressed the issue and shared his version of events.
Patil served as the chairman of selectors for four years, during which his committee made several high-profile decisions, including dropping some of the biggest names in Indian cricket. Among those were Yuvraj Singh, Gautam Gambhir and legendary batter Sachin Tendulkar.
Patil largely remained silent about those calls for years but recently spoke about them during an appearance on The Vicky Lalwani Show on YouTube.
Patil, who chaired the selection meetings at the time, dismissed the claims that Dhoni played a role in Yuvraj’s exclusion and insisted the decision was taken solely by the selection committee.
“Not once — not during selection meetings, not on tour, not during matches — did Mahendra Singh Dhoni say drop Yuvraj Singh. I am going on the record.”
When asked whether Dhoni had objected after the selectors decided to move on from Yuvraj, Patil said the former India captain fully trusted the committee’s decisions.
“He had total confidence in the selection committee. He didn’t say anything.”
Patil also responded to Yograj Singh’s repeated criticism of Dhoni, acknowledging the emotions of a father but stressing that the blame was misplaced.
“A father feeling strongly about his son is not wrong. But the blame is being placed in the wrong place.”
Dhoni enjoyed a remarkable international career, playing 90 Tests, 350 ODIs and 98 T20Is for India. Under his leadership, India won three major ICC trophies — the ICC T20 World Cup 2007, the ICC ODI World Cup 2011 and the ICC Champions Trophy 2013.
