Former India cricketer Gautam Gambhir has urged The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to retire jersey number 12 as a tribute to ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ cricketer, Yuvraj Singh. In his column for The Times of India, Gambhir first remembered team India’s win at inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007, that came in the month of September. He then heaped praise on Yuvraj, urging BCCI to retire jersey no.12, that Yuvraj used to wear during his playing days.
“The month of September, meanwhile, has special emotions for me. It was in this month in 2007 that we won the ICC T20 World Cup. The incredible Yuvraj Singh was in his elements. Just for the performance in that tournament and in the 2011 World Cup, I’d urge BCCI to retire the number 12 jersey that he wore. It will be a fitting tribute to a once-in-a-lifetime cricketer. Overall, our win typified how ‘keeping-it-simple’ works. Perhaps playing the inaugural T20 World Cup worked for us,” he wrote in his column for TOI.
Sachin Tendulkar is the only player whose jersey BCCI retired a couple of years ago – he wore jersey no. 10.
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Both Yuvraj and Gambhir played pivotal roles in team India’s victory at the tournament, the same year when Men in Blue had a disastrous 50-over World Cup in the West Indies.
Gambhir was the second-highest run-scorer in the tournament with 227 runs in six innings. His innings of 75 in the final helped India post a total of 157/5, that the bowlers defended successfully.
Yuvraj also had a memorable tournament. He scored 148 runs in five innings at a strike-rate of 194.73. His six sixes off Stuart Broad saw India put 218/4 on the board and set up a win. Yuvraj became the first Indian cricketer to hit six sixes at international level and continues to hold the record.
Both the players were also a member of 2011 World Cup-winning team. There as well, Gambhir and Yuvraj played a crucial role in team India’s title victory. Gambhir played an innings of 97 in the final to rescue the home team from a poor start. Yuvraj was in full flow in the tournament and was adjudged Player of the Tournament.
Both the players missed out on a place in World Cup 2015 squad but did well in last year’s Vijay Hazare Trophy. Gambhir, with 518 runs, was the second-highest run-scorer. Neither of two was included in any of the Deodhar Trophy squads.
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Gambhir announced his retirement from the game in December 2018, playing his last match for Delhi against Andhra Pradesh in Ranji Trophy.
Yuvraj retired from the game in June this year. He did reveal that he was offered a retirement match if he failed yo-yo test but he passed it.