Millions in this cricket-crazy nation were harbouring dreams of seeing the Men in Blue lift the cricket World Cup after a long wait of 28 years and one man was giving his all to make their dream a reality. Yuvraj Singh, the man who had conquered the likes of Nairobi, Lord’s, Karachi, Durban, once again took the onus on him to end country’s long wait for the most valuable trophy in the game. Match after match, he was churning out performances that inched the country closer to the trophy but little did everyone know that with every passing day he was putting his life at stake. A giant tumour, eventually 15cm x 11cm x 13 cm was growing within the southpaw and was pressing against a lung and artery. The darling of the country couldn’t sleep, was finding it tough to breathe, but those ordeals didn’t stop him to bag the Man of the Match award in almost every match.
The squatting on the haunches during his laborious century against the West Indies to help India top the group, the warcry after hitting the winning four against Australia to help his team qualify for the semi-finals are still fresh in every cricket fan’s mind. And then came the moment- a teary-eyed Yuvraj Singh standing with his arms folded around Mahendra Singh Dhoni after the Indian skipper launched Nuwan Kulasekara for a six to end the long wait for the World Cup. Undoubtedly, it is the best moment of his career but that happiness soon turned into despair when he was diagnosed with cancer, 10 months after the monumental feat at the Wankhede.
But probably life had challenged a wrong person as the beloved son of India once again rose up from the ashes and came out of the war against cancer unscathed. The signature pick-up flicks and lofted drives were once again on full display. However, he lost the consistency that had made him one of the most feared batsmen in the world and has struggled to cement his place in the team ever since making the comeback from the deadly disease.
Well, when the Punjab-born batsman will look back at his life after hanging his boots, we are not sure whether he’ll be satisfied with his career or not. Yuvraj always remain one of the unsolved enigmas in not only Indian cricket but also in world cricket.
A 19-year-old teenager who had the skill set to dismantle a bowling lineup consisting the likes of Glenn McGrath, Brett Lee and Jason Gillespie in his very first international match, a knock of 69 runs in India’s historic Nat-West series victory in Lord’s, hitting Stuart Broad for six sixes in an over on a bouncy Durban pitch, Yuvraj never succeeded in replicating that form in the white jersey. A century in Lahore during India’s historic tour in 2004 gave some hopes but it always remained a case of so close yet so far. 1900 runs in 40 Tests will never justify his true potentials but criticism aside, no one can deny the fact that he is one of the best limited-overs players to grace the game.
Currently out of the India team, Yuvraj has started a new innings in his life after exchanging the vows with his long-term girlfriend Hazel Keech last month. On his 35th birthday, Sportzwiki wishes him a very happy birthday and we really hope he gets his swagger back as soon as possible.