The hero of World Cup 2011, Yuvraj Singh, has announced his retirement from international cricket bringing down the curtain on his 19-year career as a player.
Announcing his retirement, Yuvraj said, “After 25 years in and around the 22 yards and almost 17 years of international cricket on and off, I have decided to move on. This game taught me how to fight, how to fall, to dust off, to get up again and move forward.”
The star player said that he will now focus on working with cancer patients and the underprivileged in the society. “I was extremely lucky to play 400 games for India. I could have never imagined it when I first started playing cricket,” the 37-year-old cricketer added.
Yuvraj played 40 Tests, scoring 1900 runs with an average of 33.92 (3 hundreds and 11 half centuries). His highest Test score of 169 came against Pakistan in 2007 at Bengaluru.
One of the best memories of Yuvraj, known as Yuvi to his friends and fans, was his six sixes in an over off England’s Stuart Broad in the T20 World Cup in 2007 at Kingsmead, Durban. India went on to win the inaugural edition of the T20 World Cup in South Africa under the captaincy of MS Dhoni.
He was also the hero of the 2011 World Cup, played in India, where he scored 362 runs, scalped 15 wickets, was adjudged man-of-the-match on four occasions before being declared the Player of the Tournament. India went on to win this edition of the World Cup too.
Soon after the World Cup, it emerged that he had played all throughout the tournament while battling cancer. He went abroad for treatment and returned home after having defeated the disease.
He enjoyed great camaraderie with Sourav Ganguly under whose captaincy he also represented India in the 2003 World Cup in South Africa. He thanked Ganguly for ‘for giving me another chance’ as a selector of the Indian cricket board.
As expected, his retirement from the game has left his fans stunned.
1996: Player of the Series in U-15wc
2000: Player of the Series in U-19wc
2007: Player of the Series in T-20wc
2011: Player of the Series in WC#YuvrajSingh is the only player to play in all ICC World Cups & won all of them.
Wish you best for new innings of life @YUVSTRONG12? pic.twitter.com/SW5dU4Z6Fm— Kuldeep Bishnoi (@bishnoikuldeep) June 10, 2019
Legends neither get tired… nor retire!
You were, are and will always be a Champion Cricketer of India @YUVSTRONG12 #Yuvrajsingh #IndiaLovesYuvraj pic.twitter.com/vrgcssgSbA
— Manjinder S Sirsa (@mssirsa) June 10, 2019
The people who saw him playing, sending the balls into the orbit, uprooting the stumps & growing aerial on the field has had the best of their lives. All the best @YUVSTRONG12 from our #SpinningStalwart @ashwinravi99 fans?. You were a joy & Inspiration for all of us.#YuvrajSingh pic.twitter.com/GfVbMxMj11
— Ashwin Anna Fans (@ashwins_fans) June 10, 2019
#YuvrajSingh
We will miss you sir?? pic.twitter.com/SIb78v472T— Vijay Mundhe (@VijayMundhe16) June 10, 2019
#YuvrajSingh Thanks @YUVSTRONG12 for serving the nation. You are hero. Gem of Indian Cricket pic.twitter.com/a6KtDvUcGS
— Pratik Kumar (@pratikdas321) June 10, 2019
This picture has a separate fan base! #YuvrajSingh #YuviRetires pic.twitter.com/EAr1wfbwSe
— Ã✞Øʍɨȼ? (@Atomic404) June 10, 2019
Thank you #YuvrajSingh for making our childhood special ? pic.twitter.com/gkcjTofK6j
— Tweet-Wala (@Lame_Purush) June 10, 2019