IPL Auction 2019: Yuvraj Singh had an intuition about moving to Mumbai Indians in the next season

Mumbai, Dec 20: Veteran India cricketer Yuvraj Singh got another lease of life after he was bought by Mumbai Indians in a last-minute buy during the just concluded IPL 2019 Auction in Jaipur.

The 37-year-old cricketer from Punjab was bought for a base price of Rs 1 crore in the second round of the auction. The southpaw, however, revealed that he wasn't surprised when he remained unsold in the first round of the auction but there was no disappointment.

IPL 2019 Auction Special Site | Sold Players | Unsold Players

"There was no disappointment as such because I had an idea that I would not be picked in the first round," the player who owns the record of hitting fastest T20I fifty till date was quoted as saying by Mumbai Mirror.

"The reason is obvious when you are putting together an IPL team, you will be looking at the youngsters. I am at that stage of my career where it could be presumed that I may be in the last stages of my career. I had hoped that there would be a buyer for me in the last round," said the Punjab cricketer, who was the man of the series in the 2011 World Cup.

"Somewhere within me there was a feeling that I might go to Mumbai... frankly I am looking for an opportunity to play this year and I am happy that it has come. Akash (Ambani) had said some nice things about me and it feels good to have such confidence," the left-handed batsman added.

Yuvraj said he had an intuition about heading to Mumbai Indians this season as his previous franchise Kings XI Punjab released him following a poor outing during IPL 2018. The stylish batsman scored just 65 runs in 8 matches for Kings XI Punjab last season. When asked about the main reason behind his failure with the Ravichandran Ashwin-led side, Yuvi termed the change in his batting position as he never was able to settle himself for a specific role.

"Agreed, that the last season was not great. But the point was I played at different positions in four-five games. I was not given one position to bat. This year I am very keen to make the best of the opportunity that will come my way," he opined.

Yuvraj will be seeing quite a few familiar faces in the Mumbai dugout next season.

"It will also be a very familiar environment for me because Zak (coach Zaheer Khan), Sachin (Tendulkar, the mentor) and Rohit (Sharma, the captain) are there. I have played a lot of cricket with them. I am looking forward to playing with them again. When you have the support, it motivates you to do well, it brings out the best in you."

Mumbai franchise owner Akash Ambani while talking to the host broadcaster after the auction said, "To be honest, we had budgeted a lot more for Yuvraj and Malinga. At Rs one crore, a player like Yuvraj is probably a (biggest) steal of 12 (sic) years. He has won every trophy there is to be won."

"We focussed on experience a lot as well on the youngsters. We have identified specific roles for both of them (Yuvraj and Malinga)."

In 2015, Yuvraj fetched a record Rs 16 crore deal with the Delhi franchise since then his IPL fortunes have fallen rapidly. He was picked up by KXIP at his base price of Rs 2 crore earlier this year before the team released him following a lean 2018 IPL.