Yuvraj singh announces retirement from international cricket.

[vice]

Just now, putrevus said:

Doesn't matter why he did it, there was no gurantee that he would be selected.Gambhir played his last test in 2016 where as Yuvi played his last test in 2012 yet Yuvi played FC even in 2019. Bhajji also played tests in 2015 too. Yuvi was the guy who played FC cricket in 2019 even though he played his last test in 2012.

Actually, players play domestic to stay relevant wrt to the IPL. Even Yuvi along with Bhajji and others have been selective in playing Ranji.  Even Bhajji has played in Ranji for a while. They also take up the spot of budding youngsters who probably need and have earned the spot more than these seasoned players who done playing for the country.  Anyways, not the thread for this discussion.  

[Ankit_sharma03]

25 minutes ago, putrevus said:

Doesn't matter why he did it, there was no gurantee that he would be selected.Gambhir played his last test in 2016 where as Yuvi played his last test in 2012 yet Yuvi played FC even in 2019. Bhajji also played tests in 2015 too. Yuvi was the guy who played FC cricket in 2019 even though he played his last test in 2012.

but yuvi played his last international game in 2017 and there was no way selectors wud have considered him had he not made runs in domestic even if it means 4 day format plus he never left his test aspiration . Not saying its bad but wasnt to guide youngsters thats comes with it . 

[Vijy]

One of the leading LOI players of his era during the 7 year peak (Jan 2005-Dec 2011). Great matchwinner with the bat, top fielder and capable bowler. He would be in my Indian all-time ODI XI for sure.

[GautiMaan]

Legend.

Inspired confidence in India and gave great memories in my teenage years,wish him all the best

[Laaloo]

That knock in QF against Australia against Brett lee and company on a pitch that was slow and aided reverse swing. We needed around 100+ runs when Raina came to the crease and a crappy ass lower order but the way yuvi played that game wow. Balls of steel. Such a great player and even a greater human being. You are an inspiration yuvi. Enjoy your retirement. Thank you so much for entertaining us all these years. It was a joy.

[Texy]

THANK YOU YUVI- real tiger of Team India

It was a privilege to have watched you Live

 

 

Edited June 10, 2019 by Texy

[putrevus]

59 minutes ago, Laaloo said:

 

 

Edited June 10, 2019 by putrevus

[putrevus]

53 minutes ago, Laaloo said:

That knock in QF against Australia against Brett lee and company on a pitch that was slow and aided reverse swing. We needed around 100+ runs when Raina came to the crease and a crappy ass lower order but the way yuvi played that game wow. Balls of steel. Such a great player and even a greater human being. You are an inspiration yuvi. Enjoy your retirement. Thank you so much for entertaining us all these years. It was a joy.

Yuvi was lights out in that match. The way he handled the pressure to me that was the cup.After that match I knew 95% we were winning the cup.

[Ajju]

True indian cricket legend for latest generation

 

Champions trophy vs Aus knock

138 something vs AUS in AUS

6 sixes

T20 wc

2011 wc

130 plus vs eng

150 vs Eng

 

great memories

[Lannister]

Still remember some of his brutal knocks against Australia. He helped us conquer Aussies when we had a huge mental block against them. Dhongi baba just came and took all the credits. Yuvi and Gamhir were the real champions in Indian batting during that period. 

 

Thank you, champ. 

[IndianRenegade]

Rewatched the highlights of 2007 t20 WC & natwest series. Brought back all the memories from my teenage years. What a player?!! If it wasn’t for that f*#cking cancer, we could have seen more of the legend!!! It’s such a shame that he couldn’t retire on a high. 

Edited June 11, 2019 by IndianRenegade

[Soorma_Bhopali]

People are only talking about his white -ball record where he was one of the biggest matchwinners and tournament winner India has even produced - Natwest Trophy, Champions trophy, WT20 and WC2011 .

 

However, I think he had good potential to be a good red-ball player also and played some series defining knocks like the 100 in PAkistan in deciding test match in 2004 series . Also , he had that 200+ partnership when India chased down 387 on final day at Chepauk  against England in 2008 series .

[mishra]

Heart of Gold, Genuine team member, Good Honest person, Excellent Fielder, Brilliant Bat and a very good bowler. Complete package.

 

Not a single fan was aware that he was being eaten by cancer while he was giving his best to win us the glory of 2011. People do not understand how the word "Cancer" impacts a person and his mental balance unless they themselves have gone through it.

 

For a Sports fan, He gave lot more then anyone will ever give. He is one in a billion. Current cricketers and future ones all over world should take a leaf from his life.

 

[The Hound]

Congrats on a great career Yuvi,  one of the best white ball batsmen.  Will always remember his heroics from 2006 PAK series,  World T20 & WC victories. 

[mancalledsting]

6 sixes, 70 off 31 in t20 semi final vs Australia and his performance vs England in 2008 ODI and test series are my favourite moments

 

in full flow- the most elegant and one of the biggest six hitters the game has ever known

[beetle]

 

[ipl is fun]

Does UV benefit in announcing retirement during WC.. If not, why not wait till WC is over and rather than getting attention now.

 

 

[SK_IH]

Quote

Yuvraj Singh Chronicles, from a Indian Cricket Fan

 

It was the year 2000, I was just another Indian kid who watched and played cricket with much pleasure. I switched on ESPN and saw India playing Kenya and a young tall left arm spinner bowling, so I assumed there is another spinner in the team to augment Anil Kumble. Obviously at that age (10), I was not a keen follower like today, completely unbeknownst of the fact that ICC Champions Trophy (known as knockout trophy at that time) was under way and India had won its first match defeating the hosts. It quickly dawned upon me however in the following match when Sachin had smashing start against Mcgrath, that this was not just yet another  cricket tournament. India lost wickets and in came this tall left arm spinner again. Another fact dawned upon me that this player might be a batsman. Thereafter I just remember crisp drives down the ground and stylish flicks of of Australian bowling attach comprising Lee, Gillespie, exasperated Steve Waugh (apart from the great Mcgrath) and when finally  he got out on 84 runs of 80 balls, me and may be most of Indian cricket fans warmed to Yuvraj Singh.

I had become a fan, in the following match Yuvraj flamboyantly smashed the potent SA attack displaying uber confidence seldom seen in Indian cricketers of that era ( I had torrid memories of Jacob Martin, Sameer Dighe, T Kumaran et al making unspectacular debuts not long ago). India did not end up winning the trophy, Chris Cairns ruined my day, however Ganguly had unearthed Yuvraj Singh. Next week, while surfing channels I suddenly see Indian team in the field again, this time in the different continent, in the desert of Emirates. India lost that tournament funnily and ironically called the Champions Trophy, India were shadow of their selves in the original Champions Trophy they had dominated a week earlier and more disappointingly Yuvraj was feeble. Watching him bat against the mystery of Muralitharan was an unedifying sight and so came a conclusion Yuvraj struggles against the turning ball. 

India played lots of cricket in the following season but Yuvraj was not the central figure, to even more disenchantment he was dropped all together. He became an irregular member of the team, however there was this defiant back to the wall effort against SL at their cricketing citadel SSC, Colombo, which is still etched in memory. But the infrequent place in the side finally led to omission. Yuvraj was forgotten but not for long.

Indian one day performances and luck seemed to dwindling when India contrived to go 2-1 down against an average Zimbabwe in early 2002. Yuvraj had just made a comeback and once again I was unaware of that occurrence, India were in trouble, staring down the barrel of a series loss, at home. But Yuvraj led way and rescued India (first of many such instances ) with his U19 mate Kaif and one match later salvaged India's home record, as he pulverized Zimbabwe with a brutal 75, batting the hapless Zimbabwe out of the series. Now Yuvraj  had the performances to go with the enormous backing of his endearing captain.

July 13, 2002 was not a watershed for Yuvraj alone but also for India' ODI fortunes. Repeated failures in the finals had become the identity of Ganguly led Indian team, but it was dispelled temporarily when Yuvraj in company with Kaif did what was the supposed impossible. India had won the tournament, wherein Yuvraj had starred, interestingly with both bat and ball, not to forget his acrobatic fielding skills hitherto not seen in Indian cricket. His player of the match performance in the first game of the tournament was testament to that fact, a half century with 3 wickets to boot. Yuvraj Singh was now a bonafide star, let alone a certainty. I had become an even bigger fan, Indian team was winning, the dynamics, team ethos had changed, diffident team of late 99 and early 2000 was a thing of the past.

Yuvraj scored his maiden ODI century the following year and another one against Australia which excruciatingly was not enough to win India the match but the elegant southpaw was still seeking consistency of performances. He was still a second tier performer, a patch on the enormous talent he was purportedly possessing. However, he eventually came of age with a string of 3 consecutive Man of the tournament performances in the season 2005-2006, in process flaying Pakistan teaming up with Dhoni (a partnership which was to become one of the successful  in ODI cricket, certainly my favourite ) and continuing his supremacy of England, his most endearing opponent. Yuvraj was now elite, powerful middle order batsman and India's lifeline along with the then savage MS Dhoni. It was the year of Champions Trophy again, the tournament which had brought Yuvraj to limelight. India were top contenders not because it was being staged in India but also owing to India's tremendous ODI run leading upto the tournament. However, Yuvraj and India had a major misfortune (it was not going to be first of his career), Yuvraj suffered a knee injury caused while playing a frivolous after practice activity. Such had become his aura in limited overs setup, India looked fragile and results were unsatisfactory. Yuvraj recuperated and came back for the ill- fated World Cup in 2007. India endured the indignity of first round exit but Yuvraj was back.

2007 was to be the year of Yuvraj. MS Dhoni, surprisingly named the captain of an Indian team denuded of 3 stalwarts for the inaugural World T20, termed Yuvraj as India's trump card in the pre-tournament presser. The Indian captain's was not far off as Yuvraj lighted up the event with hitting of unbelievable quality. Most were still in afterglow of Yuvraj's astonishing achievement of dispatching six sixes in an over of frazzled Stuart Broad, when he obliterated an all pace attack of Australia in the semi final with such disdain, not endured by that all conquering Australian side  in many a years. India won the semis, Australians had been nudged out by Yuvraj (he did an encore 4 years later) and eventually the WorldT20 title defeating the arch rivals Pakistan in a closely contested match. Yuvraj had now joined the pantheon of Indian legends, his name was part of India’s folklore, winning an ICC event brings those attendant attributes.

ODI distinction notwithstanding, Yuvraj was still seeking a permanent spot in that lustrous Indian test middle order. Hopes of that attainment were seemingly realized when Yuvraj continued his penchant for scoring test centuries against Pakistan (3^rd in 3 years) in an innings of 169 in 2007, replete with shots of supreme class. By dint of that performance, Yuvraj found his way in that elusive test middle order ahead of classy VVS Laxman for the subsequent Indian tour down under. However, the test demons remained unconquered, same technical frailties reappeared and it was unfortunately much the same when it came to test exploits thereafter. Yuvraj never really became a test player.

Things were not particularly rosy on the limited overs front as well when Yuvraj was summarily dropped from ODI side for the Asia Cup, a year before 2011 World Cup.  I, was thinking the unthinkable, Yuvraj may not make it to the World Cup playing XI after all. As things unfolded, he became India’s most influential player in the tournament which India won and his all round performances earning him the coveted Player of the Tournament award. MS Dhoni, his friend and most lethal ally, always considered Yuvraj to be a colossal match winner in short formats and he betrayed that belief by promoting the left hander in one of early matches in the tournament and the southpaw repayed the faith with a sparking half century. He eventually ended the tournament with 15 wickets and 5 fifty plus scores, most of them in adversity, the zenith of which was when Yuvraj finally drove Australia out of the World Cup for first time since 1996, the year I started watching cricket. Australian juggernaut had been halted and there was no stopping India, propelled by Yuvraj the bowler in subsequent knock out matches, India became World Champions and Yuvraj became immortal.

Six months in cricket is a long time, sometimes its enough time for a settled cricket team to disintegrate, so it happened with this World Cup winning Team India, it was a cascade of gigantic proportions. Exaction of test numero uno status notwithstanding, consecutive test defeats amounted to a mortifying eight Indian  team were going through the motions and were without Yuvraj, still recovering from non-malignant lung tumour, an ailment that had kept the World Cup champions out of all ODI matches played since the World Cup triumph. As it happened, Yuvraj missed the inaugural tri nation tournament in Australia. In midst of the series , the news broke Yuvraj had been diagnosed with cancer, the shockwaves were alike for his team mates and transfixed fans like me.

Not for the first time though, Yuvraj made a comeback this time putting aside his debilitating affliction and life was back on the track. Not surprisingly the comeback in cricket was not far off, there were glitters of brilliance, shades of prime, that backlift, that flow, those sixes but it was still not the same. Yuvraj was not the same. India most definitely got deprived of some more years of Yuvi magic. But Yuvraj had already done enough to remain etched in the annals of Indian cricket history.

All the best Yuvi!!!

My tribute to one of my favorite players. Most enjoyable memories for me as a fan when I understood the game finally was seeing Yuvi-Dhoni bat together, perhaps thats reason I will remain fan of both forever. 

Edited June 12, 2019 by SK_IH

[Sachinism]

Natwest Trophy

WC 2011

T20 WC 2007

Those partnerships with Dravid vs Pakistan

Those partnerships with MSD vs Pakistan

Those comeback tons vs England in India.

Mumbai 2008

 

Edited June 13, 2019 by Sachinism

[Deleted_User_1]

Too bad cancer robbed him of his final few years, but he was key in India winning wc 2011 and wc 2007 t-20. Definitely on the very top players of modern generation in the shorter formats. 

 

Good luck to rest of your life Sir!

Edited June 13, 2019 by Audiophile