Ask any Indian fan about their favourite cricketing moments from the last ten years, and a majority will bring up the twin World Cup victories, in the World T20 back in 2007 and the 2011 World Cup. One man who played a major role in bringing these trophies home, that too in some style, is Yuvraj Singh.
The all-rounder is one of the greatest limited overs players to have ever represented India and he has done so at different stages in his career, staging comebacks time after time to prove that he is made of sterner stuff.
Comeback after comeback:
Yuvraj Singh has continually made comebacks in his career – Whether it was after a bad patch of form or cancer, the Punjab Lion has roared back.
Now dropped from the team at the age of 35, a lot of fans and pundits feel that this is the last time we have heard from the players, but if history repeats itself, he could maybe find himself back for one last hurrah with the national team, and if all goes well, become an integral part by the time the 2019 World Cup is upon us.
We take a look at the different times in the past Yuvraj has made a comeback to the squad after being dropped:
2012, Cancer:
Probably the hardest time for Yuvi to make his comeback was after he was diagnosed with cancer a year after winning India its first World Cup in 28 years. Everybody thought that signalled the end of the 30-year old’s career, as he himself admitted it was hard for him.
Yuvraj however, forged his own path – He fought chemotherapy and slowly found his feet back in international cricket. He was drafted back into the team amidst great celebration and folklore as everybody were astonished at the feat. Yuvraj had been reborn, not as strong as he was, but still as resilient as ever.
2013-14, World T20 failure:
In the 2014 World T20, Yuvraj Singh was blamed for being the sole reason that India lost the final against the Sri Lankans, and justifiably so. He was castigated for not giving Virat Kohli the strike as India managed to put a score of just 130 as Yuvraj played a 21-ball 11.
Virat Kohli was visibly frustrated at the other end, as he was finished with a 58-ball 77, but it was not enough as Yuvraj was dropped shortly after the tournament.
However, he once again hustled it in domestic cricket and found his way back into the team for the Australian T20s in the beginning of 2016. Here, Yuvraj took India to a win after we needed 19 runs in the last over. He was back, just.
2016, the old lion is not done, yet:
In 2016, Yuvraj found a new lease of life as India faced England in the ODIs. Facing the pressure of being selected ahead of apparently more deserving players, Yuvraj was fighting for his place in the squad. He showed that he wasn’t done yet, with an innings of absolute class along with MS Dhoni. He smashed his first score of 150 as India won the game by 15 runs.
Though Yuvraj had an okay Champions Trophy, he was found wanting in the West Indies tour and has not been handed a spot back in the team. We may have seen the last of the swashbuckling southpaw, but the whole cricketing fraternity will be hoping to see one last comeback from the player before he finally calls it a day, on his own terms…The way he would love it!
By Rohit Nair
