'Never said I won't play under Raina'

“The question is totally baseless. I was badly ill. I have started training. It is totally baseless that I have denied playing under Suresh Raina. I play for India and my team, and not for any captain,” said said Yuvraj on the sidelines of promotional event.

After he was dropped from the West Indies tour on medical grounds,  there has been a buzz that Yuvraj has refused to play under the leadership of Raina who is junior to him in terms of experience and years of international cricket.

“I have played under Sourav, MS Dhoni, Gautam Gambhir. I have played under so many captains. And Gautam and MS came to the team five years after I got included in the team. There has been no such thing. I play for my country and not for captains,” said Yuvraj.

Yuvraj also expressed his disappointment over being all alone during the tough times of his international career.

“In these ten years of international cricket, I have learnt many things that when you are successful and you are in limelight there are many people beside you.

“But when there are tough times, only near and dear ones stand beside you, otherwise you are all alone,” said Yuvraj when asked whether the World Cup success has matured him more as human being.

‘It was payback time’ Yuvraj, who is also the captain of Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Pune Warriors, said Sourav Ganguly’s inclusion in the Sahara-owned team was his gesture to pay back the support he had received from the former India captain during the initial years of his career.

“I and Sourav share a very good relationship. He supported me a lot during my initial years in international cricket. And I think it was my time to support ‘Dada’ as he wanted to play IPL,” said Yuvraj.