Yuvraj Singh, everyone's hero
Yuvraj Singh, the legendary Indian cricketer announced his retirement from the sport after a glittering career with over eleven thousand International runs, three ICC trophies and two IPL titles. This article is a kind of a tribute to one of the greatest finishers ever in the limited overs cricket.
The ruthless Aussies
With an average age of 29, India has more than 50% of its population in their 20s right now. Another big chunk of the population is in their late teens. So what this has got to do with this article? Well, I'd say plenty. A massive number of people who are going to read this article are Cricket fans (Else there's no reason for you to be on this page right?). They know how ruthless the Australian cricket team was back in the early 2000s and late 90s. Back in the day, beating them used to be an event. An Aussie defeat used to be the matter of celebration for us all (Especially if they played against us). Their domination was on peak, unchallenged.Desperation
With a batting lineup consisting of heavyweights like Sachin Tendulkar, Saurav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and a finisher like Robin Singh Indian cricket team had a batting order of top standards. Still, the Indian team lagged behind. They never had that firepower, not just in their batting lineup but also on the field. Most of the Indian fielders were lazy and not up to the rapidly rising standards of International Cricket. India needed a Jhonty Rhodes or a Paul Collingwood desperately.A star is born
It was October of 2000. The occasion, ICC Knockout trophy (Which later became ICC Champions trophy). With Vinod Kambli, Saurav Ganguly and Robin Singh already in the squad, BCCI decided to bring in another Southpaw in the batting lineup and this is where a glorious tale begins. India crushed Kenya easily to move into the quarterfinals of the event where they had to face the invincible Australian cricket team. Aussies had India all at bay when a 19-year-old Yuvraj Singh came in, with a vision to announce himself on the biggest stage. The 19-year-old kid made merry of furious Aussie fast bowlers like Brett Lee, Glenn McGrath and Jason Gillespie. In a game where no other batsman could register a fifty, Yuvraj got 84 off 80 balls. India pulled off a heist. The go-to man
Indian cricket team now had a face that could smash the ball hard, bowl some tight overs and chip in important breakthroughs and most importantly a wall in the points reason. Those who watch cricket regularly already know who Yuvraj Singh, the fielder was and those who don't, just type "Greatest catches ever in Cricket history" in the YouTube search bar maybe. Now Indian team had a genuine match winner. Be it the inning against England in the NatWest Trophy final, a ton against Aussies in their backyard, Indian team looked at Yuvraj Singh whenever opposition got through the great trio of India. Shahid Afridi was Man of the tournament at 2007 World T-20 but it was Yuvraj Singh who ensured the title for India after hammering Aussies out of the Semi-Finals. We all know about his heroics at the 2011 world cup, right? The Fate
Everything was on track for Yuvraj Singh and Indian Cricket. They won the 2011 World cup after 28 years. The nation celebrated, but we had no idea about what's going on inside that monstrous body of Yuvraj Singh. Every Cricket fan was shaken down to core when the news of Yuvraj Singh having cancer came out in the media. He played the entire world cup while carrying that deadly disease.The fighter
The people who knew Yuvraj Singh always believed that he will overcome the disease. But what no one knew until it was revealed by his father is that he was suffering from cancer even during the world cup. He was vomiting blood during a game against West Indies, yet he went on to score a match-saving hundred and later secured three wickets to seal the game for India. When asked about risking his body to play in the world cup, he said "I have no regret as I won the World Cup. Given another chance I would have done the same". This sentence itself is evidence of his fighting spirit. The Kangaroo Slayer
A career that started by hunting the Kangaroos, went on forever. Yuvraj played some of his most memorable innings against Australia. He started off with 84 of 80 to knock the Aussies out of the ICC knockout trophy. His highest T-20 international score of 77 not out came against Aussies too. He scored 283 International T20 runs against the Aussies which are most for him against any team in the format. It was him who bailed India out of trouble in the quarterfinals of the world cup 2011. Earlier he snapped two important wickets of Brad Haddin and Michael Clarke to dent the Australian inning. His 70 of 30 in the Semi-Finals of World T-20 2007 was a blow that demolished invincible Aussie fort which they still are struggling to rebuild even today. Everyone's Hero, Indeed
Hundreds of sportsmen and women retire from sports every year. Not many are remembered forever, on every part of the Globe (At least where their respective sports are popular). Yuvraj Singh was a champion cricketer and is a wonderful Human being. He is loved by almost everyone, from the fans to the opposition. After defeating cancer, he came up with an organization called YouWeCan. This organization is here to educate people about the causes of cancer, how to detect it early, collect donations for cancer patients and bring in more people to join hands against the deadly disease. Yuvraj Singh now has retired from the sports, but he will remain in the hearts of millions, forever. Yuvraj Singh indeed is everyone's hero.
Yuvraj Singh was really a great cricketer and phenomenal fighter in the field. His performances are great and helped India win some most crucial matches.
He was a king of sixes! We can't forget his talent of hitting consecutive sixes over the ropes. He is a hard hitter and didn't show any mercy to the bowlers when he was in form. Yuvraj was a man of great calibre. He is also a great human being!
He proved a potential cricketer in all forms of cricket. And yes, he is a real hero!