Fighting back tears, Yuvraj Singh on Monday announced retirement from international cricket, ending a “rollercoaster” career during which he became the hero of India’s 2011 World Cup triumph and fought a gritty battle with cancer.
“After 25 years, I have decided to move on. Cricket has given me everything and is the reason why I stand here today,” the 37-year-old Yuvraj said.
“I was extremely lucky to play 400 games for India. I could have never imagined it when I first started playing cricket,” he added.
Yuvraj Singh: After 25 years in and around the 22 yards and almost 17 years of international cricket on and off, I have decided to move on. This game taught me how to fight, how to fall, to dust off, to get up again and move forward pic.twitter.com/NI2hO08NfM
— ANI (@ANI) June 10, 2019
Yuvraj played 40 Tests, 304 ODIs and 58 T20Is for India. He put together 1900 runs in the longest format, and 8701 in the one-dayers, the format in which he enjoyed most success.
“It was a love-hate relationship with this game. I can’t explain what it really means to me. This game taught me to fight. I have failed more times than I succeeded and I will never give up,” he said.
The attacking left-hander listed the the 2011 World Cup triumph, being man of the match in the event’s final, getting six sixes in an over against England in the same tournament and his first Test hundred, against Pakistan in Lahore in 2004, as the three most special moments of his career.
The battle with cancer soon after the 2011 World Cup triumph was perhaps the biggest challenge that he encountered.
“I was not going to let that disease defeat me,” he said.
