World Cup 2011 hero Yuvraj Singh bids farewell to cricket

After 19 glorious years in cricket, Yuvraj Singh decided to call time on his career on June 10, Monday in Mumbai. The cricketer thanked all the people in his life for supporting him and expressed special thanks to his mother and wife during his speech at a Mumbai hotel where he declared that he will no longer play professional cricket.

The left-handed batsman from Punjab has been one of the greatest match-winners for India and was spotted by the Indian team management and the then Indian captain Sourav Ganguly during the 2000 Under-19 World Cup, where he was named the Player of the Tournament. 

After which, he made his debut in the ICC KnockOut Trophy in Kenya and displayed his potential in his the very first match he got to bat against Australia, as he scored a match-winning 84 against the likes of Glenn McGrath, Brett Lee and Jason Gillespie.

The southpaw became a fierce batsman and earned the title of being a match-winner as he went on to help India clinch the inaugural World T20 in 2007 and then the 50-over World Cup in 2011 in India.

He was awarded the Player of the Tournament in both the ICC tournaments. The Punjab batsman amassed 148 runs at an average of 29.60 including the famous six sixes in an over that he hit against England's Stuart Broad in the quarter-final of the tournament.

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It has been a wonderful long journey. Thank you as always for all the love wishes and support. Always believe in yourself no matter how tough it gets. Always get up and do it again 👊💪🙏

A post shared by Yuvraj Singh (@yuvisofficial) on Sep 19, 2018 at 10:47am PDT

Soon after, Yuvraj went on to score 362 runs in the tournament at an average of 90.50 with one hundred and four half-centuries. Alongside, he also scalped 15 wickets including a five-wicket haul. Owing to his exploits, India went on win the 50-over World Cup after 28 years at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai on April 2, 2011.

However, the cricketer's career witnessed a downfall after he discovered he had a rare form of cancer in his lungs. After which, things were never the same for Singh since the all-rounder had to go through a lot as he underwent intense chemotherapy sessions in the United States.

Singh has represented India in 304 ODIs in which he notched up 8,701 runs at an average of 36.55 with 14 centuries and 52 fifties. He also played 40 Tests with 1900 runs in his dolly, whereas appeared in 58 T20Is scoring 1177 runs with eight half-centuries.

Yuvraj Singh made his last international appearance in June 2017 where he played against West Indies.