Yuvraj Singh, on Thursday (June 15), added another feather to his already illustrious cap as he became only the fifth Indian player to play 300 One-Day Internationals when he took the field during India’s Champions Trophy semi-final match against Bangladesh.
Yuvraj would have surely liked to make the match more memorable with some fireworks with his willow but the 35-year old did not get a chance to bat. But it did not affect the Men in Blue much as they blew away the Tigers to storm into the final. Chasing 264, India’s top three batsmen Shikhar Dhawan (46) Rohit Sharma (123*) and Virat Kohli (96*) took the defending champions home inside 41 overs.
Before the game, the 35-year old was felicitated during a small presentation held by the Indian team where former skipper Sourav Ganguly, under whom Yuvraj had made his ODI debut in 2000 in the same tournament, gave the southpaw a memento.
Yuvraj later heaped praise on Ganguly and even said that the former captain was his favourite and under his captaincy, his career had flourished the most.
“My favourite captain was Sourav Ganguly. I learned a lot from him and my career flourished under him the most. He infused the feeling in us that we could win a series abroad.”
? A special presentation for @YUVSTRONG12 ahead of his 300th ODI for ??#BANvIND #CT17 pic.twitter.com/n6Noy5elp9
— ICC (@ICC) June 15, 2017
Speaking about his achievement, Yuvraj had said:
“It is a big achievement for me to complete 300 games for India. When I started playing I was just happy to play for the country. Been a long journey and there have been a few ups and downs. Not looking to do anything extraordinary, just contribute to the team’s cause. The team is bigger than my landmark.”
The other four players who have crossed the 300-mark in ODIs are former captains Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and Mohammad Azharuddin.
India, meanwhile, will take on arch-rivals Pakistan in the summit clash of the Champions Trophy on Sunday (June 15).