Sachin, Yuvraj, Gambhir and Zaheer Know Why They Had to Leave Team, Says Sandeep Patil

New Delhi, October 12, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)

Former India cricketer and ex-chief selector Sandeep Patil has said that legendary players Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Gautam Gambhir and Zaheer Khan know why they had to leave the national team, stressing that the selection committee prioritised the future of Indian cricket over personal relationships.

Patil, a member of India’s 1983 ODI World Cup-winning team, chaired the five-member senior men’s selection committee from 2012 to 2016, a period marked by a major transition in Indian cricket.

“First of all, I want to make it clear: I wasn’t the only one making these decisions. There was a selection panel of five, and I was its chairman,” Patil said during an appearance on The Great Indian Cricket Show on Doordarshan.

He said the committee took its decisions keeping the future of Indian cricket in mind, even when they involved some of the country’s most celebrated players.

“Whatever decisions we made, we made with the future of Indian cricket in mind. It feels very bad to bring this up today, but legends as great as Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, and Zaheer Khan had to leave the team or retire. They know the reasons,” he said.

“Our job as selectors was to put the interests of the country, the BCCI, and Indian cricket first,” he added.

Patil’s tenure coincided with a significant reshaping of the Indian team following its 2011 Men’s ODI World Cup triumph, as several experienced players gradually made way for younger talent across formats.

The former chairman of the National Cricket Academy, now known as the BCCI Centre of Excellence, also spoke about the need for selectors to maintain professional boundaries with players, explaining that personal friendships could not influence selection decisions.

“You can be friends with players, but there has to be a line. You can’t say, ‘He is my friend, so I will pick him for the team.’ When you are given this responsibility, you have to take it seriously,” Patil said.

He added that selectors must focus on the interests of Indian cricket rather than their personal feelings or playing careers.

“You are not thinking about your own cricket; you are thinking about India’s cricket and its future. You sometimes have to make decisions you are not happy with, but you make them for the good of the Indian team,” he said.

Patil currently serves as the mentor of Mumbai’s senior and age-group men’s teams.