Legendary India cricketer Yuvraj Singh has said his friendship with MS Dhoni was only because of cricket and thanks to their different lifestyles, the pair never struck a close bond despite having played international cricket for a significant period.
“Me and Mahi are not close friends. We were friends because of cricket, we played together. Mahi’s lifestyle was very different from me, so we were never close friends, we were only friends because of cricket. When me and Mahi went on the ground, we gave more than 100% to our country,” Yuvraj, who was the player-of-the-tournament when India won the 2011 world cup, said on YouTube channel TRS Clips.
Yuvraj also added that there the pair didn’t agree on on-field decisions all the time and often, they shared different views.
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“…he was captain, I was vice-captain. When I came into the team, I was 4 years junior. When you are captain and vice-captain, there will be decision differences,” Yuvraj said.
“Sometimes he made decisions I didn’t like, sometimes I made decisions he didn’t like. That happens in every team,” he added.
Yuvraj announced his retirement from all forms of international cricket in 2019 ay the same time when India were taking part in the ODI World Cup in England.
The former India allrounder recalled how he turned to Dhoni for advice regarding his future in the national cricket team and received an honest answer.
“When I was at the end of my career, when I wasn’t getting the right picture about my career, I asked him for advice. He was the guy who told me that the selection committee is not looking you right now. I was like, at least I got to know the real picture. This is just before 2019 World Cup. That is the reality,” he said.
Digging dipper into the dynamics between teammates, Yuvraj said it’s not necessary that players should become each other’s best friends off the field too and such is the story with every other team.
“Your teammates don’t have to be your best friends outside the field. Everybody has a different lifestyle, skill set. Certain people hang out with certain people, you don’t have to be best friends with everyone to go on the field. If you take any team, all eleven don’t get along. Some do, some don’t. When you are in the park, put your ego behind you and contribute on the field,” Yuvraj said.
Yuvraj then recalled that the nature of off-field relationships never impacted how the players performed on the field.
“There were times when MS was injured, I was a runner for him. I remember there was one moment when he was in 90s, I wanted to give him the strike to help him reach his 100. I remember diving for him, for his second run, as he was in 90s,” he said.
“When I was batting in a World Cup match, I was 48 against the Netherlands. There were 2 runs to get and Mahi blocked both the balls so that I get 50,” he added.
The two though, Yuvraj says, meet as a friend whenever they get an opportunity.
“He (Dhoni) is retired, I am retired. When we meet, we meet like friends only not like ‘I don’t want to get to know you’. We shot an ad together too, and had fun talking about our past days,” he said.
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