Yuvraj: India must avoid 'massive changes' ahead of 2027 ODI World Cup
Yuvraj Singh believes to succeed at the 2027 ODI World Cup, India need to pick their best squad now and stick to it so that the players have a good run-in. The 44-year-old former allrounder cautioned the team from making "massive changes" at the last moment, which has hurt them in the past.
"They need to focus on building the same team to play in a year's time, because you don't want to make big changes at the last moment," Yuvraj, Player-of-the-Series in India's 2011 ODI World Cup win, told Cricinfo. "Whoever your players are, whether they are 16 or 20, it's important that everybody gets game time because obviously now there's more T20s and less 50-over cricket. Whatever matches there are, it's important that players get enough game time to prepare for the World Cup.
"Every time India have faltered is when they've made some massive changes at the last moment or in the tournament. So I think it's important that we stick to a team that we believe can lift the 2027 World Cup and stick by those guys whether they fail or succeed till that moment. Belief in the squad is very important."
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India's long road to the ODI World Cup starts with a three-match series at home against West Indies starting September 27. The Ajit Agarkar-led selection panel faces a slew of questions, former captain Rohit Sharma's international future being paramount. With the World Cup to be played in southern Africa, there is increased focus on fast-bowling allrounders, bringing the injury-hampered Hardik Pandya into the conversation.
India have also had a preference to stack their squads with allrounders. Yuvraj appreciates the value they bring but believes more focus should be given to players who are match-winners irrespective of the role they play.
"We have had a lot of consistency in white-ball cricket. They need to think of first qualifying for the semis and then going on to play in the last two [knockout matches]. I think that's a long way ahead. Focus should be to get a squad ready which is together and ready to fight in any situation."
Yuvraj Singh
"Every country has a different set of players. Some teams have more allrounders, some teams have more specific batters and bowlers," he said. "You have to go with the best combination. The best combination will always be 12, 13, 14 players and [pick the 15th] according to conditions. Whether you want to play an extra spinner, fast bowler or allrounder, you have got to go with the best. You've got to go with your top 11 match-winners who you feel can win the game.
"That's the reason why Australia have been successful, because I believe that the Australian side, whenever they won World Cups, they've had a lot of match-winners who individually can pull off a game, and on a specific day, one does the job, and when they're all in trouble, they together pull it off."
Yuvraj also asked India to take a leaf out of their previous two T20 World Cup campaigns. India became the first team to win back-to-back men's T20 World Cups in 2024 and 2026.
"That's something that we have also done in the last two T20 World Cups," Yuvraj said. "We also played the 50-over World Cup final [in 2023]. So we have had a lot of consistency in white-ball cricket. And that's what they need to do as well to think of first qualifying for the semis and then going on to play in the last two [knockout matches]. I think that's a long way ahead. Focus should be to get a squad ready which is together and ready to fight in any situation."
Yuvraj was recently announced as the co-owner of the Canada Super 60, a professional T10 cricket league. The six-team men's tournament and the three-team women's competition will be played at BC Place in Vancouver from September 29 to October 4.
"Canada Super 60 is something I feel is very exciting. It's a shorter format where it's faster than T20," Yuvraj said of the tournament ahead of its second edition. "A lot of my Punjabi community is there. They get to see some live cricket, some top players around the world. I would urge them to bring the locals to watch the game.
"A lot of parents always are talking about bringing their kids back to India to play cricket. So I feel it's a great platform for their kids to play in these leagues. I'm pretty passionate about the game and want to try to do my best to expand it in parts of the world where cricket is not popular and make it popular."
Former India quick Zaheer Khan also co-owns a team, Vancouver Anchors, in the tournament.
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