Sometime one is remembered just not for the talents but mainly because of the spirit and courage that has been reflected through his action. Under the reign of Sourav Ganguly he is the most utility player, his bat can blitz, he can break opponent growing partnership for his captain and what to say about his fielding, simply outstanding. Yes he is Yovraj Singh better known as Yuvi.
While there are more great players around including Sachin, Rahul, Sourav, Laxman but Indian cricketing fans loved this cricketer a lot.
For quite some time he was been a integral part of Indian cricket team with his middle order batting splendor and left-arm orthodox bowling. He represented India in World Cup T-20 in 2007 and World Cup Cricket in 2011.
In the 2011 Cricket World Cup he got the Man of Tournament Award. In addition to his cricketing schedule Yuvraj was most wanted for some leading brands in the international market, to name few there is Reebok, Microsoft, Fiat and many more. All his endeavors had enabled him to earn huge amount of money annually.
Till date Yuvraj had gathered not less than $35 million dollars as his estimated net worth.
Early life
Yuvraj Singh was born on 12th December, 1981 in Chandigarh, India. He was born to Shabnam Singh and Yograj Singh, who was a former Indian cricketer known for fast bowling. When Yuvi was a mere child his parents got divorced.
He stayed with his mother and the world knows that his mother is his best friend who had always inspired is son and backed him throughout his life. He got his schooling from DAV Public School Chandigarh. In his childhood days Yuvraj was seen as child actor in Mehndi Sagna and Putt Sardara Punjabi movie. Yovraj was keen lover of sports from his early childhood days and quite good with the tennis racket or roller skating.
Through the passage of time his interest grew in cricket and got an entry in the Under-12 Punjab squad when he was 11. In 1997-98 he played his debut first class match but dismissed without scoring against Orissa in the Ranji Trophy. His bat shines first when Yuvraj made 358 against Bihar in the Final of Under-19 Cooch Bihar Trophy. He represented India Under-19 against Sri Lanka in 1999 and played one innings of 89 runs in 55 balls. At the domestic level in one Ranji Trophy encounter against Haryana he scored 149.
After performing brilliantly in the 2000 Under-19 World Cup where he got the Player of the Tournament Award a deep interest started growing all around for his selection in the Indian Team.
Career
The real breakthrough of his career came in when he get call from the National Cricket Academy at Bengaluru. He got the Indian cap on 3rd October 2000 to play for his country, a pre-quarter final one day international against Kenya at Nairobi in the 2000 ICC Champions Trophy. In the quarter final he impressed his selectors by playing a innings of 84 in 80 balls against formidable Australian attack and earned the Man of the Match. But he had to wait little longer to make a Test debut as his bat was not collecting enough runs. Performing awkwardly against Zimbabwe he was dropped.
Again return against Sri Lanka but excluding one 98 not out the series was disappointing. His bad run continued in South Africa where in the Triangular series he scored only 69 runs in 6 innings.
He had to prove his eligibility once more and hence gave much importance in domestic cricket. He made impressive 209 for North Zone in the Duleep Trophy in 2002. He was called back in the national squad against Zimbabwe and he proved the selectors correct by striking 80 of 60 balls and make India win by his Man of the Match performance. India won the series and went Yuvraj went to West Indies but again performed badly.
His captain wanted to keep his winning squad intact and he got a chance in the Natwest Series. In the first match he proved his captain right by making 64* and taking 3/39 with the bowl. At the Final at Lords on 13th July England gave a target of 326 to chase. At the end of 24 overs India were reeling at 146/5. Some extraordinary thing happened which no cricket lover of India would forget. Kaif joined Yuvraj and two make a 121 run partnership before Yuvraj got out for 69 in 63 balls. India won the match.
His repetitive good performance in the limited over matches Yuvraj had enabled him to earn a call from the Test squad on 16th October 2003. He played his first Test match against New Zealand. With some ups and down he played 40 Test and scored 1900 runs. Being a true One-Day enthusiast Yuvraj played 304 one-day matches in which he made 8701 runs with 14 hundreds and 52 half centuries.
He had also proved his proficiency with the ball by taking 111 wickets in 1-Day matches. His outstanding fielding has enabled him to take 94 and 31 catches in one-day and test matches respectively. In 2011 ICC world Cup he got 4 Man of Match and also the Player of the Tournament Award by making 362 runs and taking 15 wickets. Yuvraj had a very successful run in the T-20 format. He hit six sixes in a over in the 2007 ICC World Cup being the only cricketer doing so in any international match.
Personal life
He married Hazel Keech on 30th November 2016. He was honored by Arjuna Award in 2012 and Padma Shri Award in 2014.
He would also be remembered for his spirit as after getting the chemotherapy for his Stage 1 tumor in the left lung being cured, he was back on the ground and played few more fantastic knocks in the T-20 format.
He got the FICCI Most Inspiring Sportsperson of the Year Award in 2014.
Quick summary:
Full Name: Yuvraj Singh
Date of Birth: 12th December, 1981
Birth Place: Chandigarh, India
Age: 36 Years Old
Profession: International Cricketer
Height: 6 Feet 2 Inches / 1.88 m
Weight: 78 Kg / 172 lbs
Net worth: $35 Million
