A few days back to be specific on the 10th of June the complete Cricket fraternity was saddened to witness the most heartbreaking news that Yuvraj Singh is retiring from International Cricket. He was the most destructive and fierce left-handed batsmen Indian team could ever see. Here is a short glimpse into the life of our beloved cricketer and a sneak peek into his extravagant career of 18 years.
He played his first one day international against Kenya in the year 2000 in which he did not get an opportunity to bat. His first breakthrough innings was against Australia where he was the man of the match for his 84 off 80. After that, due to series of poor outings, he was dropped from the side, but he made his comeback after a year in Coke Cup where he scored a blistering 98 against Srilanka. He played his first test match against New Zealand in the year 2003. But his temperament and batting style did not suite the longest format of the game in which he has only 3 centuries and 11 half centuries in his entire test career. Yuvraj made his T20 career debut in the year 2007 against Scotland.
His long haul career included 17 centuries, 73 half centuries. He was not just a good batsman but he proved to be a handy spinner and his bowling was very helpful in tricky situations. He has one five-wicket haul and 140 international wickets in which the maximum part of the pie is occupied by one-day internationals. He made his IPL debut for kings eleven Punjab and played for the various franchise in following years. He not just having an excellent international career but what laid the foundation to his selection was his phenomenal first-class career. People must have got whiff of his career in the very famous movie MS Dhoni: The Untold Story. He played around 140 matches in which he scored around 20,000 runs with an average of 44. And he took wickets greater than 800 in these matches.
Apart from various challenges on the field, he had to undergo many off the field tough times as well. Cancer the biggest setback in his life has completely ruined his career. Adam Gilchrist truly stated that “Cancer ruined Yuvraj Singh’s career, or he was the next big thing in the International Cricket!” Coming back from Cancer treatment he made a comeback to the national side but was not the same Yuvraj as before. He failed drastically, yet a 150 against England in India was his career best that came in his post-cancer period.
Cricket will surely miss the fearless and entertaining batting of this legend and his “all ball six over” to Stuart Broad will always occupy a special position in the hearts of his fans. We will miss you Yuvi paji, wishing you every success ahead!
