Former India all-rounder Yuvraj Singh, who called time on his international career in July, has said that he was not picked for the Indian team in 2017 despite passing the mandatory yo-yo test and was rather asked to play domestic cricket.

It is to note that World Cup 2011 Player of the Tournament, Yuvraj was dropped after the 2017 tour of West Indies after enduring a lean patch.

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“Never thought that I would be dropped after being the Man of the Match in two games out of the 8-9 I played after the Champions Trophy 2017,” Yuvraj was quoted as saying by Aaj Tak.

Talking about the yo-yo test, the southpaw said, “I got injured and I was told to prepare for the Sri Lanka series. Then suddenly, the yo-yo test came into the picture. It was a u-turn in my selection. Suddenly I had to go back and prepare for the yo-yo test at the age of 36.

“Even after I cleared the yo-yo test, I was told to play domestic cricket. They actually thought that I wouldn’t be able to clear the test due to my age. And that it would be easy to decline me afterward… yeah you can say it was an exercise in making excuses.”

Yuvraj, who has played 304 ODIs and 58 T20s for India scoring 8,701 and 1,177 runs, respectively, smashed a 127-ball 150 in a home ODI series against England in Cuttack in January 2017 to then play the Champions Trophy after being in and out of the side.

However, the Champions Trophy outing didn’t go well for Yuvraj as he managed 105 runs in four innings at 35.00 average. He was included in the West Indies tour squad following the Champions Trophy but his poor shows there too forced selectors to drop him.

Yuvraj said he was never informed that he would be dropped and the manner in which it was done, hurt him.

“I think it was unfortunate for a guy who has played 15-17 years of international cricket to not being made to sit down and being talked to. No one told me and no one told Virender Sehwag or Zaheer Khan either.

“Whichever player it is, the person who is in-charge should sit down and talk with the player that we are looking at the youngsters and we’ve taken this step. This way, you do feel bad at the beginning but at least you give them the credit of being true to your face – which doesn’t happen in Indian cricket.

“It has been like that forever almost. I have seen it happen to big names. Took it personally then but not now as there is a time for everything to move on and I have made my peace with it,” said Yuvraj.

(With inputs from IANS)