SK Tales: The smile that turned Sanjay Manjrekar into a Yuvraj Singh admirer

Former India player Sanjay Manjrekar has revealed an interesting incident about how Yuvraj Singh reacted with a smile, despite Manjrekar criticising the former all-rounder’s selection.

Sanjay Manjrekar was unhappy with Yuvraj Singh’s selection for the 2012 T20 World Cup and made a public statement about the same.

As luck would have it, Yuvraj Singh had a great performance in one of the games and was named the Player of the Match. Giving details about what happened next, Sanjay Manjrekar said in SK Tales:

“I was doing the post-match presentation. I was a bit tense. I thought he would be a bit unhappy with me. When I announced him as the Man of the Match, he was walking towards me with a smile. And then I told him that 'there have been some people who felt you should not have been part of this team'.”

Revealing Yuvraj Singh’s reply, Sanjay Manjrekar said:

“Yes sir, I have heard some people talk about it.”

Sanjay Manjrekar further continued:

“And he smiled at me. I’ll never forget that. It was so sporting of him. The way he smiled back, completely understanding how the dynamics work. There was no angst, no taunt. He did a beautiful interview with me. After than I have had so much respect for this man, Yuvraj Singh.”

Why Sanjay Manjrekar was not in favour of Yuvraj Singh’s selection

Explaining why he wasn’t in favour of Yuvraj Singh’s selection for the 2012 T20 World Cup that was held in Sri Lanka, Sanjay Manjrekar said that he felt it was an emotion-based selection.

Elaborating on the same, the cricketer-turned-analyst said:

“India had won the World Cup in 2011, and Yuvraj Singh was named the Man of the Tournament. He was diagnosed with cancer post the World Cup. It was amazing how he bounced back (from cancer). And I remember when the 2012 T20 World Cup was held, Yuvraj Singh was selected in the squad. In my typical manner, I did not get emotional and gave a statement that the selection was made more based on emotions and not on cricketing grounds."

According to Manjrekar, Yuvraj Singh wasn’t yet match fit. He hadn’t played enough cricket to compete at the top level.

“I thought he should have played a few more matches before making a comeback. But there was so much public sympathy, and the fans wanted him back playing for India. So that angle also played out, and I felt it was not right. It became a controversy, and Yuvraj Sing'sh fans were not happy”, Manjrekar admitted.

Yuvraj Singh recently featured for India Legends in the Road Safety World Series, where the left-hander put up a stellar show in the team’s title triumph.

On Thursday, Yuvraj Singh also revealed a new look on social media.