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Former Indian all-rounder Yuvraj Singh, on Monday, said that big money in the Indian Premier League (IPL) adds more performance pressure on the player.
Yuvraj, who was one of the most expensive players to be sold in the IPL auction, said, "When you do not perform after getting a mammoth money everyone criticises you."
"No one likes when you are given this amount of money. Pressure does come on to you as people start saying he is getting this amount of money, but still he is not performing. In our country, negative news sells," Yuvraj revealed this during an Instagram Live session with former Indian batsman Mohammad Kaif.
At the 2014 IPL auction, Royal Challengers Bangalore bought Yuvraj for an all-time high price of ₹ 14 crore. In 2015, the Delhi Daredevils bought him for ₹16 crore, making him the most expensive player ever to be sold in the IPL.
The swashbuckling all-rounder explained that IPL gave many cricketers a livelihood who never played for India.
"IPL gives players livelihood, players can run their families, they can give education to their children. IPL has done a lot of good as well," he said.
On the other hand, Kaif said that players get distracted by money and fame involved in the game these days due to the IPL.
"A lot of players come in and they become distracted. They hire their own managers, get big deals and then they become distracted. Their focus becomes haywire. I think IPL has changed a lot when I saw myself being auctioned, I was not able to understand it. Cricket has changed a lot from 2008," Kaif said.