Childhood and Early Career
Yuvraj Singh is a cricketer from Chandigarh in India.He was born on
12 December 1981 in Chandigarh, India. He is the son of former cricketer
and Punjabi movie star Yograj Singh.
Yuvraj was first noticed by the selectors while he captained the U-19
Punjab team in the final of the Cooch-Behar Trophy against Bihar U-19s.
He scored 358 runs in the final match. He was then selected for the
U-19 World Cup in Sri Lanka in January 2000. The Indian team won the
tournament. In 2000, he was selected for the first batch of the National
Cricket Academy in Bangalore. He displayed his potential in his second
ODI against the Australians where he scored fast against a pace attack
by seasoned bowlers like Brett Lee, Jason Gillespie and Glen McGarth .
However, he was soon out of form, and in early 2001, he was dropped for
the ODIs in India against Australia. Later in the year he scored an
unbeaten 98 and helped India defeat Sri Lanka.
Coming Back to International Cricket
After the 2003 Cricket World Cup, Yuvraj was signed by Yorkshire,
becoming the only the second Indian after Tendulkar to represent the
county. However, he had a disappointing run, scoring less than 200 runs
in either form of the game, but he described it as an important learning
experience.
His superb partnership with Mohammad Kaif in the NatWest Series final
against England in July 2002 led India to victory. He played for India
at the 2003 Cricket World Cup. After that, he scored centuries against
Australia and Zimbabwe. In the last match of the Round Robin League he
scored 165 runs with Mohammad Kaif against West Indies and was declared
the Man of the Match. However, his relations with his new coach Greg
Chappel were strained at that time and he often had showdowns with the
team management.
In the series in the West Indies, Yuvraj hit two fifties in four
games, even though India lost the series 4-1. His performance was
recognized and he was shortlisted by the ICC as one of four nominees for
the International One Day player of the year award.
Becoming A Star Cricketer
Yuvraj’s form improved late in 2005 and early in 2006 in the ODI
cricket. In three consecutive series, against South Africa and then
against Pakistan and England, he scored centuries and was soon among the
top ten of the ICC ODI batting rankings. Although India lost a series
against West Indies, Yuvraj’s performance was noticed and he was
shortlisted by the ICC as one of four nominees for the International One
Day player of the year award.
Injuries and How Yuvi Returned to International Cricket
Due to illness, he was dropped in the tri-series against Australia and
West Indies in Kuala Lumpur. He was now plagued by a knee injury which
made him miss the tour of South Africa. He made a fast recovery and
played in the ODI series against West Indies in India in January 2007.
He was back in form now and played at the World Cup, where India made a
first-round exit. However, Yuvraj continued to be in the team. In
September 2007, the team captain Rahul Dravid resigned and Yuvraj was
appointed as the ODI vice captain. He scored 121 in an ODI series
against Australia.. In November 2008, he had returned to form, as India
beat Pakistan on home soil; he was named the Man of the Series.
In November 2008, he hit a very fast century against England at
Rajkot. Despite straining his back, he continued batting well and
managed to dismiss four of England’s leading batsmen in the next match
at Indore. This earned him two consecutive Man of the Match awards.
Yuvraj also scored very fast and went on to claim the Man of the
Match award against Australia in the World Twenty20 semifinals at
Durban. He is the icon player and captain for Indian Premier League team
Kings XI Punjab. They came second in the Round Robin phase of the
tournament, but lost their semi-final to the Chennai Super Kings.
On 1 May 2009, Yuvraj performed his first hat-trick in T20 cricket
against Royal Challengers Bangalore at Kingsmead in Durban. He dismissed
Robin Uthappa, Mark Boucher and Jacques Kallis. On 17 May 2009, Yuvraj
picked up his second Twenty20 hat-trick against Deccan Chargers at the
Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg. He claimed the wickets of leading
batsmen like Andrew Symonds, Herschelle Gibbs and Venugopal Rao.
Where his style of playing is concerned, Yuvraj is primarily a
left-handed batsman. But he can bowl part-time left-arm spin. He is
better at batting against fast bowling than spin bowling. He is one of
the good fielders in the Indian team, fielding primarily at point, with a
good aim at the stumps. As an expert fielder, he has effected several
ODI run outs. He was once known to have attitude problems, but later
often assumed leadership positions under Rahul Dravid’s captaincy.
Yuvraj’s Sponsor
Regarding his commercial interests, Microsoft signed Yuvraj to be
its brand ambassador for the Xbox 360 video game console when it was
launched in India in 2006. He also endorsed Codemasters’ cricket video
game Brian Lara International Cricket 2007. He also lent his voice to
the Bollywood animated film, Jumbo, which was his career starting in
Bollywood.
The Man of the Match against West Indies (2005), the Man of the
Series against South Africa, Pakistan and England; he was now ranked
among the top ten of the ICC ODI batting rankings. He was then short
listed by the ICC as one of four nominees for the International One Day
player of the year award. In 2008, he was declared the Man of the Match
twice against New Zealand in a Test series played in India. He was
awarded a Porsche 911 car by India’s BCCI for scoring 6 sixes in a
single over while playing against England in the ECC World Twenty20
Super 8 match in Durban, South Africa. BCCI also gifted him Rs.10,
000,000 in cash for his superb performance in the tournament. In terms
of strike rate, he is currently one of the world’s leading 20-20
batsmen.
