Yuvraj: The media are not the moral police
Yuvraj Singh has lashed out at the media fraternity, claiming that they make stories out of nothing in an attempt to create controversy.
The talismanic Indian has often been criticised for his supposed air of arrogance and hard-partying ways but Yuvraj believes the media are to blame for the negativity that often surrounds him, including the recent reports that he has been at odds with Kings XI skipper Kumar Sangakkara, causing a rift in the team.
"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," Yuvraj wrote about the reports on his Twitter feed.
"Media has no right to fabricate stories, they just want eyeballs."
In an interview with the Times of India, Yuvraj continued to berate the media, this time for suggesting that the owners of the Kings XI were unhappy with him because of his poor form thus far in the IPL, in which he is averaging just over 21.
"Do you mean to say only because Yuvraj isn't scoring, my team is losing? Players of some of the other teams too aren't performing. Had they performed, their teams wouldn't have suffered heavy defeats but to the media Yuvraj is a whipping boy.
"If the media is happy doing what it's doing, I don't have the resources and time to stop them. A cricketer's job is to perform consistently. If I had not performed, do you think I would have been playing international cricket for so long?"
Asked as a follow up question whether he felt the media were being unfair on him, he criticised the media's apparent need to create sensational stories.
"That's for people in the media to introspect," he stated.
"They are behaving like moral police. Are they an authority on everything? They keep speculating about my private life and then they expect me to cooperate with them.
"If sensational stuff helps them make good business so be it. I guess credibility of some of them is at a discount. But there are quite a few in the media who command respect because of their responsible work," he added.
