Friday 21 June 2019
Tuesday 11 June 2019
Yuvraj, always the prince, never the king
Imagine the world’s best striker one on one with against a charging goalkeeper. He can chip it above the goalkeeper, he can dribble past the goalkeeper and tap it in, he can curl the ball in. He can score the goal in ‘n’ number of ways. He can miss it also in ‘n’ number of ways. That is Yuvraj Singh’s cricket career.
Yuvraj could play every shot in the textbook. Straight drive, on-drive, cover drive, square drive, square cut, late cut, leg glance, flick, hook, pull, sweep, reverse sweep… Any shot Sachin Tendulkar or Virat Kohli can play, Yuvraj could do too, at times even better than them.
His contribution to Indian cricket is underestimated. He instilled in the team the belief that they can chase down any total, no matter how big. His partnership with Mohammed Kaif that successfully crossed a 300-plus target in the Natwest trophy in England was a turning point for us in one-dayers.
He would do things when you least expect them. Like hitting six sixes in an over. And he didn’t do it in a Ranji Trophy match, but against Stuart Broad, who was England’s strike bowler, in a T20 world cup match, that too away from home.
Yuvraj played a big role in taking India to the world cup victory in 2011, scoring 4 fifties and a hundred. When his hour of glory came, he dedicated his trophies to his idol ‘paaji’ as he and his teammates fondly called Tendulkar.
He is also a fighter. He would make comebacks when nobody is giving him a chance. Whether it was cricket or cancer. The way he beat back cancer is an inspiration for thousands.
Yuvraj’s is also a story of wasted chances. His Test cricket stats do no justice to his talent. Just three hundreds in 40 Tests at an average of 33.92. Yuvraj Singh was the prince who had it in him to wear the crown, but lost it by a mile too many.
At the press conference he announced his retirement, Yuvraj could be seen painfully listing his accomplishments. He probably knows that in a country where cricket is a religion, the followers have moved on to newer gods and have no memory of him, or for that matter no time.
Yuvraj could play every shot in the textbook. Straight drive, on-drive, cover drive, square drive, square cut, late cut, leg glance, flick, hook, pull, sweep, reverse sweep… Any shot Sachin Tendulkar or Virat Kohli can play, Yuvraj could do too, at times even better than them.
His contribution to Indian cricket is underestimated. He instilled in the team the belief that they can chase down any total, no matter how big. His partnership with Mohammed Kaif that successfully crossed a 300-plus target in the Natwest trophy in England was a turning point for us in one-dayers.
He would do things when you least expect them. Like hitting six sixes in an over. And he didn’t do it in a Ranji Trophy match, but against Stuart Broad, who was England’s strike bowler, in a T20 world cup match, that too away from home.
Yuvraj played a big role in taking India to the world cup victory in 2011, scoring 4 fifties and a hundred. When his hour of glory came, he dedicated his trophies to his idol ‘paaji’ as he and his teammates fondly called Tendulkar.
He is also a fighter. He would make comebacks when nobody is giving him a chance. Whether it was cricket or cancer. The way he beat back cancer is an inspiration for thousands.
Yuvraj’s is also a story of wasted chances. His Test cricket stats do no justice to his talent. Just three hundreds in 40 Tests at an average of 33.92. Yuvraj Singh was the prince who had it in him to wear the crown, but lost it by a mile too many.
At the press conference he announced his retirement, Yuvraj could be seen painfully listing his accomplishments. He probably knows that in a country where cricket is a religion, the followers have moved on to newer gods and have no memory of him, or for that matter no time.
Monday 3 June 2019
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