'Media has been unkind to Yuvraj'

Even as she celebrated India's World Cup triumph, Yuvraj Singh's mother Shabnam lashed out at the media for making her son its favourite whipping boy when he was going through a bad patch a year-and-a-half ago.

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"There is one thing I would like to say -- the media behaves in a unique manner. When Yuvi was going through a bad patch all sorts of stories about him would appear in the media," she said.

She did not specify whether she was referring to television channels or the print media, but said needless and baseless stories about him would crop up which was very annoying.

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Like all sportsmen, she said, Yuvraj too was going though a bad patch, but now all must take note of his role in the team's success.

"He has been a match-winner on numerous occasions. How can you forget his contribution? He has learnt from past experiences and is now a mature cricketer," she said.

Shabnam informed that she did not watch Yuvraj when he was batting in the final against Sri Lanka, which India won by six wickets, as she is superstitious.

"Only when I heard the cheers did I rush to the television set," she revealed, adding "Of course, I did not mind seeing him in action while bowling to the opponents, and it was a great feeling."

She said her son's next objective is re-establishing his credentials in the Test team and becoming a permanent feature of it.

So how did she react after the winning runs in the final were hit?

"You can use any phrase to describe my condition when India won the World Cup; you may say I was on cloud nine or over the moon!"