Yuvraj Singh's Emotional Support for Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli: 'Defeat to New Zealand is Especially Painful'

The criticism has been harsh for India captain Rohit Sharma and former skipper Virat Kohli following a disappointing run in the 2024/25 Test season. However, former all-rounder Yuvraj Singh has come to the defense of his former teammates. India kicked off the season on a positive note by defeating Bangladesh 2-0 at home, showcasing an impressive victory in Kanpur despite facing challenges with the weather conditions.

However, this was followed by a stunning 3-0 whitewash at the hands of New Zealand at home, which broke all kinds of unwanted records. India then conceded the Border-Gavaskar Trophy to Australia for the first time in a decade. Both Rohit and Kohli were in dismal form throughout the season. Yuvraj said that he sees them and head coach Gautam Gambhir among his friends and brothers.

“These people have played much more cricket than I have. I can only give my opinion and that is that when players don't perform it is very easy to criticise them. Supporting them is difficult. Media's job is to say bad things about them, my job is to support my friends and my brothers. For me, they are my family. Simple,” said Yuvraj.

Yuvraj also said that the loss to New Zealand hurts more than their 3-1 defeat in Australia. “In my opinion the loss to New Zealand hurts more than this because that was at home. That was not acceptable. This is still acceptable because we have lost in Australia after winning there twice. Australia have been a dominant side for the last so many years,” he said.

‘Rohit Sharma is a great captain, win or lose’

Yuvraj said that he prefers to look at all the things India have achieved in the past five-six years and what Rohit won as a captain rather than just concentrate on this period. "I look at what India has achieved in the last five-six years. They have achieved two back-to-back victories in Australia. I don't remember if any other team has done that. We are saying bad things about our greats Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli. But people forget what they achieved in the past.

“They are among the greatest cricketers of their time. Yes they lost but they would be much more hurt by that than us. I am sure India will bounce back. I feel that Gautam Gambhir as coach, Ajit Agarkar as selector; Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah - they are the best minds in cricket right now. They have to decide what's the way for the future for Indian cricket. I am sure this will be discussed with the BCCI,” said Yuvraj.

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