Gary Kirsten, who coached India to victory in the 2011 World Cup, recently shared an interesting tidbit. He mentioned that Yuvraj Singh, who was named Player of the Series in that tournament, wasn’t a guaranteed pick for the team initially.

In 2010, Yuvraj didn’t perform well. But he was given a chance and selected for the World Cup the following year. He then played a key role in India’s title win. He scored 362 runs and took 15 wickets during the competition. Under MS Dhoni’s leadership, India beat Sri Lanka by 6 wickets in the final, securing the World Cup after 28 years.

Kirsten told Rediff.com, It was a close call. The selectors discussed the 15 players at length.

He added that both he and Dhoni wanted Yuvraj on the team because of his experience. I really wanted him in the team, and so did Dhoni. And look at how well he did in the World Cup, Kirsten said.

“I always liked Yuvraj. We had a great relationship. He would annoy me at times, but I just loved him. I wanted him to always score runs because he was amazing to watch bat,” he mentioned.

Kirsten also noted that Paddy Upton, India’s mental conditioning coach at the time, helped Yuvraj reach his peak.

Paddy did a lot of work with Yuvi to prepare him for that World Cup. Yuvi himself made some important choices to get ready for the tournament, Kirsten stated.