Former India head coach Gary Kirsten has revealed that Yuvraj Singh‘s selection for the 2011 World Cup squad was a debate.

The South African legend recalled that there was a debate around the squad, and that both he and skipper MS Dhoni had backed the inclusion of the seasoned all-rounder.

India won the 2011 ODI World Cup under the captaincy of MS Dhoni, ending their 28-year drought to lift the ICC trophy.

The Men in Blues beat Sri Lanka in the final by six wickets at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

Batting first, Sri Lanka posted 274 runs on the board which India chased down the total in 48.2 overs. Yuvraj Singh was named as the Player of the Tournament scoring 362 runs at an average of 90.50 and a strike rate of 86.19 and claiming 15 wickets.

With Yuvraj Singh is rated as India’s greatest white-ball player, Gary Kirsten has revealed that his selection for the 2011 World Cup national squad was not a straightforward one.

“Thank goodness we picked him because it was flipping close, he was. It was not a slam dunk selection. The selectors kind of debated around the 15 players. I was very keen to have him in the team as was Dhoni because of the experience that he brought to the group. And look at the World Cup he ended up having.”

The 57 year old revealed Yuvraj worked with Paddy Upton to get himself ready for the 2011 World Cup.

Meanwhile Gary Kirsten said, “I was always very fond of Yuvraj. We had this kind of great relationship where like, he used to frustrate the hell out of me sometimes, but I just loved him.”

“He was good. I just want him to be scoring runs all the time because when I watch him bat, it’s just like amazing to watch. But there was a journey he had to walk and credit to Paddy.”

“Paddy did a lot of work with Yuvi to get him ready for that World Cup. Yuvi himself made some key decisions around getting himself prepared and ready for the World Cup,” the former India coach added.