Sourav Ganguly was the captain under whose stewardship, Yuvraj Singh arrived and established himself in international cricket. So, the views of Dada on the retirement of one of his young guns who called it quits on June 10 are bound to be taken seriously.
In a live Facebook interview on Cricket World Cup's official page, where Ganguly answered questions sent by viewers, he took one about whether Singh deserved a farewell match. The reply from Yuvraj's former skipper was clear and straightforward. He said, "I don't think so. I don't believe in these retirement matches. If it falls in the course of your continuation as a player, if you have been a part of the team and you are continuing and then, you are part of a normal system of a Test match or a one-day match, it's fine. But whatever he has achieved for India will not go down if he doesn't get a final send-off game, and I don't believe in it. He's been a terrific player as I said, a match winner for India and I think he should be very proud of what he has achieved."
In recent years, many members of that generation of cricketers who played under Sourav Ganguly have retired suddenly without having a farewell match. In 2012, Rahul Dravid announced his retirement without any previous hint. VVS Laxman's declaration of retirement was made after he was selected for the Test team to play a series against New Zealand.
Virender Sehwag and Zaheer Khan also decided to call it a day without any festivities arranged for them. The only player who managed to get a pre-declared final game was Ashish Nehra. His last match was a T20 international against New Zealand on his home ground of Feroze Shah Kotla.
Yuvraj, when asked about a possible farewell game, said that he was told, after failing the yo-yo test that he would be given a farewell match if he retires, but Yuvi rejected the offer and wanted to get back into the team only as a fit player. This has led to serious speculations about him having been treated poorly. But the retired all-rounder has said he will reveal more later after the World Cup.
