Hi Cricket Lovers,
Its been a while since i last wrote about something. Yes, Sachin's retirement made me feel that there is not much left in cricket but when i see players like Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara, Shikhar Dhawan and Ravichandran Ashwin doing well it feels like we have found the firepower which can win us matches like the already retired brigade of Sachin, Saurav, Rahul, Laxman and Kumble.
I want to take time today and talk about a cricketer who started the ODI career with a bang with what was his 1st Innings for Team India back in 2000 versus a strong Aussie team at the Nairobi Gymkhana Club,Kenya with a swashbuckling 84 runs which helped India reach the semis of the Champions Trophy. I could still remember his stroke-play especially his cover drives which were so elegant yet worthy of watching over and over again. One cannot forget the Natwest final in 2002 when India beat England while chasing 325 and his partnership with Md Kaif which brought India back from the jaws of defeat.
Of the first 10 half centuries he made for India we won all of the matches and by then he also became a utility part time slow left arm bowler. Then came the year 2007 when the big three Sachin, Dravid and Ganguly retired from T20 internationals MS Dhoni led a young team to the win the first T20 World cup win where Yuvraj played a very important role in fact he became the world record holder of the fastest 50 in just 12 deliveries when he hit Stuart Broad for six 6's in an over. In the next game which was a semi final he scored a hard hitting 70 of just 30 balls to knock out the Australians. He was single-handedly responsible for India reaching the Finals.
Yuvraj kept coming in and out of the Test Team as his one day form form never as much translated into test form. He was never able to perform at full potential barring 1-2 series at Home. His T20 and ODI form continued and in the year 2011 world cup he amassed 362 runs and also took 15 wickets and almost single-handedly won us the world cup. He was rightly adjudged the Man of the tournament.
After the world cup there came a phase when Yuvraj was diagnosed with Cancer but he fought it and it almost took 16 months for him to regain the strength. It was pure determination what brought back Yuvraj into the Indian Cricket Team. He might not have done exceptionally well since his return but when in flow as seen in the two 70's he scored in T20s against Pakistan (Dec 2012) and Australia ( Oct 2013) he looked invincible.
Just because a player who was not able to cope with the expectations of 1.2 billions fans on the occasion of the Finals that was played against the Sri Lankans by scoring 11 off 21 balls doesn't mean that he is a bad player. Its a very bad thing when the die hard Indian cricket fans don't understand the immense pressure under which all the players play when they represent the country and we just cannot blame an individual for the loss as its the team who lost not an individual. When i see Icons like Sachin and Ganguly requesting the fans to be patient and not make Yuvraj the culprit its very heartening.
Nobody should have any doubts on the ability of Yuvraj to bounce back again and show us his class. I therefore consider him as Hero by all means who even in the presense of icons like Sachin, Ganguly, Dravid and MS Dhoni could show his individual brilliance and has won us matches almost single-handedly on innumerable occasions.
Hope the readers of my blog agree with me and support Yuvraj as i think there is still a lot of cricket left in him as far as T20 and ODI's are concerned.
Do comment if you think otherwise.
till then,
Take Care
Cheers!!!
Its been a while since i last wrote about something. Yes, Sachin's retirement made me feel that there is not much left in cricket but when i see players like Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara, Shikhar Dhawan and Ravichandran Ashwin doing well it feels like we have found the firepower which can win us matches like the already retired brigade of Sachin, Saurav, Rahul, Laxman and Kumble.
I want to take time today and talk about a cricketer who started the ODI career with a bang with what was his 1st Innings for Team India back in 2000 versus a strong Aussie team at the Nairobi Gymkhana Club,Kenya with a swashbuckling 84 runs which helped India reach the semis of the Champions Trophy. I could still remember his stroke-play especially his cover drives which were so elegant yet worthy of watching over and over again. One cannot forget the Natwest final in 2002 when India beat England while chasing 325 and his partnership with Md Kaif which brought India back from the jaws of defeat.
Of the first 10 half centuries he made for India we won all of the matches and by then he also became a utility part time slow left arm bowler. Then came the year 2007 when the big three Sachin, Dravid and Ganguly retired from T20 internationals MS Dhoni led a young team to the win the first T20 World cup win where Yuvraj played a very important role in fact he became the world record holder of the fastest 50 in just 12 deliveries when he hit Stuart Broad for six 6's in an over. In the next game which was a semi final he scored a hard hitting 70 of just 30 balls to knock out the Australians. He was single-handedly responsible for India reaching the Finals.
Yuvraj kept coming in and out of the Test Team as his one day form form never as much translated into test form. He was never able to perform at full potential barring 1-2 series at Home. His T20 and ODI form continued and in the year 2011 world cup he amassed 362 runs and also took 15 wickets and almost single-handedly won us the world cup. He was rightly adjudged the Man of the tournament.
After the world cup there came a phase when Yuvraj was diagnosed with Cancer but he fought it and it almost took 16 months for him to regain the strength. It was pure determination what brought back Yuvraj into the Indian Cricket Team. He might not have done exceptionally well since his return but when in flow as seen in the two 70's he scored in T20s against Pakistan (Dec 2012) and Australia ( Oct 2013) he looked invincible.
Just because a player who was not able to cope with the expectations of 1.2 billions fans on the occasion of the Finals that was played against the Sri Lankans by scoring 11 off 21 balls doesn't mean that he is a bad player. Its a very bad thing when the die hard Indian cricket fans don't understand the immense pressure under which all the players play when they represent the country and we just cannot blame an individual for the loss as its the team who lost not an individual. When i see Icons like Sachin and Ganguly requesting the fans to be patient and not make Yuvraj the culprit its very heartening.
Nobody should have any doubts on the ability of Yuvraj to bounce back again and show us his class. I therefore consider him as Hero by all means who even in the presense of icons like Sachin, Ganguly, Dravid and MS Dhoni could show his individual brilliance and has won us matches almost single-handedly on innumerable occasions.
Hope the readers of my blog agree with me and support Yuvraj as i think there is still a lot of cricket left in him as far as T20 and ODI's are concerned.
Do comment if you think otherwise.
till then,
Take Care
Cheers!!!
