I was the scapegoat: Yuvraj Singh

Cricketer Yuvraj Singh feels that he was a “scapegoat” when rumours of him having an affair with actor Preity Zinta broke out in 2008.

The rumours gained ground when pictures of Preity hugging Yuvraj post almost all of the 20-20 cricket matches hit the headlines in 2009. Preity later came on record to clarify that the rumours were baseless.

It’s come to light that the episode did affect Yuvraj when he shot back rather sullenly to Preity calling him a “big flirt” on her own chat show, Up Close & Personal with PZ. The transcripts of the chat show show Preity saying: “But you are a big flirt and that’s why you get linked up with everyone!” Yuvraj answered back, “You were dating someone at that time and I was made the scapegoat in the whole thing. All this only because I was single. You were also linked to Bret Lee earlier, weren’t you?”

Interestingly, Yuvraj also indicates that he is not willing to marry just about anybody as he has seen his parents go through a divorce.

“I want someone who has an open mind to understand the background I come from. I don’t want anyone to marry me for the fact that I play for India or due to my popularity. She needs to be understanding given the fact that I would be traveling most of the time due to my game. So someone who comes from a similar background would be ideal. Also the fact that I have seen my parents go through a divorce made me learn that I shouldn’t marry too early in life and only settle with someone when I feel it’s the absolute right time,” says Yuvraj.

The cricketer has been linked to Bollywood actors like Deepika Padukone, Kim Sharma, Amisha Patel, Twinkle Bajpai, Anchal Kumar and Raima Sen in the past.