Yuvraj is not one of those, Dhoni is: Paddy Upton feels ex-India captain a 'massive high-pressure' player

Team India have produced several match-winners over the years. The list is a long one, which also includes the likes of former all-rounder Yuvraj Singh and ex-India captain MS Dhoni. While Yuvraj made his international debut before Dhoni, he played under the latter for the majority part of his career and the two formed a lethal batting pair in white-ball formats.

Both Yuvraj and Dhoni shared the dressing room for India during their victorious campaigns in the 2007 T20 World Cup and the 2011 ODI World Cup. While Yuvraj was the man in form during the entire 50-over World Cup, held in the subcontinent sans Pakistan, Dhoni took the onus upon himself to deliver the goods when the stakes were down for the Men in Blue in the tournament finale versus Sri Lanka, at the iconic Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on April 2.

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Recalling India's tremendous run in the 2011 ODI World Cup, hosts' then mental conditioning Paddy Upton made a big statement by claiming that not Yuvraj but Dhonia 'massive high-pressure' player. "He (MS Dhoni) would do what he is the best in the world at – which is seeing a team home in a chase in the second innings in a white-ball game. He had delivered nothing in the eight games before the final. Yuvraj had done his bit, he had played his tournament. He was done, he was spent. That moment was set up for someone like Dhoni. There are very few players in the world who are genuine “massive high-pressure” players. Yuvraj Singh is not one of those, Dhoni is,” Upton wrote in his column for The Indian Express.

“The moment ‘t just a testimony to his leadership and courage, it spoke a lot about his relationship with Gary. Mind you, Gary didn’t have to stand up and have a conversation with Dhoni to discuss the merits and demerits of the move. It was just the two leaders of the team being on the same page. The knock on the glass, him pointing to himself, Gary’s nod… and it was done. I do remember very clearly when Dhoni walked down the stairs, I turned to Gary and said “Do you realise Dhoni is going there to fetch us the World Cup?” I had absolute conviction that Dhoni would come back with the trophy,” he said.

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While there isn't much to separate between Dhoni-Yuvi, both remaintwo of the biggest players to have represented India at the highest level. Yuvraj called it quits from international cricket in 2019 whereas Dhoni retired in mid-August 2020 and remains active in the IPL, playing for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK).