Yuvraj Singh, former India all-rounder, turns 41. He made his international debut in 2000 and called it quits from the sport in 2019. He represented India in 398 matches across formats and had over 11,000 runs to show.
Singh suffered cancer in late 2011 and was out of action for about a year. But he then defeated the disease and made a successful comeback to the field.
On his birthday, FPJ looks at some of his incredible achievements in the sport:
Six sixes: Singh became the first player to hit six sixes in an over in T20Is. The southpaw achieved the feat in the inaugural Men’s T20 World Cup in 2007. The bowler to suffer was Stuart Broad of England. It was his was of answering England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff’s sledging. Broad bowled full, wide, short, from over the wicket, from around the wicket but nothing changed. Singh hit all the deliveries out of the park en route to his 12-ball fifty, the fastest in T20Is.
Fastest fifty: In the inaugural Men’s T20 World Cup of 2007, Singh hit a 12-ball fifty, which is still the fastest in T20Is. In the knock against England, he hit Stuart Broad for six sixes in an over that enabled him achieve the feat. In all T20s, only Chris Gayle (2016) and Hazratullah Zazai (2018) have managed to equal Singh’s record of the fastest fifty.
Player of the tourney: In 2011, India had managed to win the Men’s World Cup after 28 years. They also were the first to win it at home. Singh had played a crucial role in India’s success. He finished with 362 runs, with one hundred and four half centuries, and returned 15 wickets in the competition, including a five-wicket haul. Incidentally, in the Men’s U-19 World Cup, 2000, which India won, Singh was the player of the competition.
IPL hat-tricks: Singh was one of the utility bowlers that India had in his era. In the IPL, he put his bowling to use to an extent that he registered an unlikely record. Known more for his exploits as a batter, Singh has two IPL hat-tricks to his credit. Only Amit Mishra with three has more. While Singh first registered a treble against RCB, he then dismissed three Deccan Chargers batters in three balls to register his second hat-trick, both in 2009.
Two-time IPL winner: Singh was one of the iconic players when the IPL first began in 2008. He was the captain of Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings). As a skipper he didn’t have trophy wins. But he was part of the Sunrisers Hyderabad squad that won the IPL in 2016 and then repeated the feat with Mumbai Indians in 2019.
