Ace batsman Yuvraj Singh on Monday announced his retirement from international cricket. Yuvraj, a hard-hitting left-handed batsman and an excellent fielder who could also bowl, was a key figure in many of India's most notable limited-overs triumphs in the past two decades, including the 2007 T20 World Cup and the 2011 ODI World Cup.
Yuvraj announced his retirement at an event where all his important milestones of his career were displayed on a giant screen. As the video of Team India celebrating 2011 World Cup was showing, Yuvi, as he is popularly known, said, "This was the most cherished moment of my life. I don't think it will ever come back as I've decided that this is it". Yuvraj had played a key knock in the final against Sri Lanka. He was the player of the World Cup in 2011.
"Cricket has given me everything I have and is the reason why I am here today," an emotional Yuvi said.
Yuvraj's career began to splutter after he was diagnosed with a rare form of germ cell cancer in early 2012. While Yuvraj managed to return to international cricket after undergoing successful treatment, his place in the side was under increasing threat due to indifferent form.
Yuvraj made his international ODI debut in the Champions Trophy in Kenya in 2000 at the age of 18. Yuvraj became a sensation as he scored 84 runs in his first ODI innings, helping India to victory against an Australian bowling attack that had Brett Lee, Jason Gillespie and Glenn McGrath. Previously, Yuvraj had played a major role in India lifting the Under-19 World Cup in Sri Lanka that year under the captaincy of Mohammad Kaif. Yuvraj went on to be man of the series in that tournament.
Yuvraj maintained his good form in ICC World Cup events in the years that followed, scoring heavily in the 2003 and 2007 ODI World Cups and getting two man of the match awards in the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007, which India won. Yuvraj was man of the series in the 2011 World Cup, shining with both bat and ball, scoring 362 runs and taking 15 wickets, respectively; India won that tournament too.
Yuvraj played 304 ODI matches, scoring 8,701 runs at an average of 36.55. He hit 14 centuries and 52 fifties and also picked up 111 wickets. Yuvraj hit eight 50s in his T20 international career of 58 matches, none of which were more popular than his knock of 58 off just 16 balls against England in the 2007 World Cup. Yuvraj hit six consecutive sixes in a Stuart Broad over in that match. While being a regular part of IPL teams, Yuvraj last played an ODI and T20 international match in 2017.
Yuvraj's record in Test cricket was more patchy as he had a 'stop-start' career, playing only 40 matches in nine years and scoring 1,900 runs at a modest average of 33.92. Yuvraj last played a Test match in 2012.
It has been reported that Yuvraj had been contemplating retirement from international cricket in order to pursue a “freelance” career in multiple T20 leagues like the GT20 (Canada) and Euro T20 Slam in Ireland and Holland.