I want to play because I’m passionate about playing the game, asserts Yuvraj Singh

All the doubts about Yuvraj Singh’s viability of being picked at the Indian Premier League auction were answered when he was grabbed by the Mumbai Indians (MI) for his base price of one crore rupees in the second round of the auction. Once fetching as high as sixteen crore rupees at the erstwhile auctions, the southpaw only managed to eke an interest from Mumbai Indians that too in the second phase of the auction. He might have been discouraged by the fact, but he took it in chins and didn't expect a lot either.

"The hunger is there, I'm not playing for the sake of playing, "I am playing because I want to play and I'm passionate about playing. Hopefully, in this season I will be able to deliver," Yuvraj told Mumbai Mirror.

Yuvraj was pretty candid in his admission that at this stage no franchise prefers candidates who are 37-years-old. He also talked about his feelings that he may go to Mumbai Indians.

"There was no disappointment as such. The reason is obvious. When you are putting together an IPL team, you will be looking at the youngsters. I am at the stage of my career where it could be presumed that I may be in the last stages. I had hoped that there would be buyers for me in the last round.

"Somewhere within me, there was a feeling that I might go to Mumbai. Frankly, I am looking at an opportunity to play this year and it has come. Akash (Ambani, co-owner) had some nice things to say about me and it feels good to have such confidence."

After recovering from cancer and coming back to competitive cricket Yuvraj Singh played two average IPL seasons before his performance took a plunge in the 2018 IPL season where he managed to score only 64 runs from six games and was let go by Kings XI Punjab after the season. 

"Agreed, that the last season was not great. But the point was I played at different positions in four-five games. I was not given one position to bat. This year I am very keen to make the best of the opportunities that come my way."

Yuvraj also insisted that playing in Mumbai Indians will be a familiar experience for him as he has a good rapport with some the players like Sachin Tendulkar, Zaheer Khan, and Rohit Sharma.

"It will also be a familiar environment for me because Zak (Zaheer Khan, director of cricket), Sachin (Tendulkar, the mentor) and Rohit (Sharma, the captain) are there. I have played a lot of cricket with them. I'm looking forward to playing with them again. When you have support, it motivates you to do well, it brings out the best in you."

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