03 April,2010 06:27 AM IST | | A Correspondent
YUVRAJ Singh, it is learnt, is very upset at being replaced as captain. His soul is no more in the Kings XI team. The Chandigarh dasher is not purposely under-performing or throwing his wicket away, but because he is no longer the captain, he is restricting himself to the role of a normal player. He's disinterested and doesn't contribute much in the team meetings. Tom Moody
>> The decision to replace Yuvraj as captain was taken by coach Tom Moody, who felt Yuvraj was not disciplined enough. Yuvraj feels let down and has since tried to keep a distance from his coach.
>>u00a0Having worked with the Sri Lankan players as their national team coach, Moody is on a better wavelength with Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene. Hence, the confidence in them.
>> The decision to change the captain has however backfired badly on the Punjab team. The Moody-Sangakkara partnership has goofed up in team selection. Their choice of persisting with Jayawardene has been criticised as the former Lankan player has struggled to cope with the pace of Twenty20 cricket.
>> Moody and Sangakkara's selection of local Indian players in the playing XI is also being questioned. Being foreigners, they don't have much idea about the form and performance of the local players. Yuvraj had a better idea about the players from his state. Mohammad Kaif (28 runs in four matches) was bought for a high amount and he flopped while local players like Luv Ablish, Bipul Sharma, Karan Goel and Reetinder Singh Sodhi have not been used enough.
>> Grapewine has it that Yuvraj will be captaining one of the new IPL teams next season.
In Yuvi's defence
I am disgusted and horrified that a news reporter can stoop down to such a level. I, in all my career, haven't seen such a disgusting piece of news. To come out of injury is not easy and I've had 3 in a row and I hope to bounce back soon. I always try to give my best no matter what the circumstances and right now I am struggling with my form. It happens to every player
--u00a0Yuvraj Singh on Twitter
There is no truth to the speculative reportage that is being carried in various segments of the media and these get accentuated when the tide is not in our favour. We are focused on the game today (against Royal Challengers Bangalore) and by reporting such stories we are distracting the players hence we request the media not to resort to such speculative reportingu00a0
-- Preity Zinta
