Yuvraj Singh Biography

Full Name   : Yuvraj Singh

Date of Birth  : 12th December 1981

Place of Birth : Chandigarh, India 

Nick Name  : Yuvi 

Height   : 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 

Batting Style  : Left-Handed 

Bowling Style : Slow Left Arm Orthodox 

Role  : Batting (All-Rounder) 

Test Debut (cap 247)   : 16th October 2003 v New Zealand 

ODI Debut (cap 135)    : 3rd October 2000 v Kenya 

Yuvraj Singh belong to a Sikh family. Yuvraj Singh is an Indian cricketer, and the son of former Indian fast bowler and Punjabi movie star Yograj Singh.  Yuvraj Singh  has been a member of the Indian cricket team since 2000 (ODIs) and played his first Test match in 2003.  Yuvraj Singh was the vice captain of the ODI team from late-2007 to late-2008. At the 2007 World Twenty20 he hit six sixes in an over against England's Stuart Broad—a feat performed only three times previously in any form of senior cricket, and previously never in an international match between two Test cricket nations.  Yuvraj Singh  was named the Man of the Tournament in the 2011 Cricket World Cup.

Early Career

Yuvraj first came to attention when he captained the U-19 Punjab cricket team in the final of the Cooch-Behar Trophy against Bihar U-19s, in which he scored 358 at the Keenan Stadium in Jamshedpur.  Yuvraj Singh then gained selection for the U-19 World Cup in Sri Lanka in January 2000, where he was part of a team led by Mohammed Kaif which won the tournament. Yuvraj was subsequently selected in 2000 for the first intake of the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore.

ODI Career

Yuvraj made his One Day International debut against Kenya in 2000 during the ICC KnockOut Trophy.  Yuvraj Singh showed his potential in his second ODI which was against the Australians where he scored a quickfire 84 off 82 balls against a pace attack consisting of Glenn McGrath, Brett Lee and Jason Gillespie. However, after a lean run of form, he was dropped for the one-dayers against Australia in India in early 2001,but returned later in the year and helped India win a match in Sri Lanka with an unbeaten 98.

One of his most memorable innings was a partnership with Mohammad Kaif in the NatWest Series final against England in July 2002 which led India to victory. Yuvraj Singh represented India at the 2003 Cricket World Cup.  Yuvraj Singh scored his first century in his fourth season with the Indian team against Bangladesh in 2003. After that he also scored hundreds against Zimbabwe and Australia, including a 139 off 119 balls at the Sydney Cricket Ground. In the Indian Oil Cup 2005, he made 110 off 114 balls (his third century) and an important partnership worth 165 runs with Mohammad Kaif, to become the man of the match against West Indies in the last match of the round robin league. After reaching his century, he attracted attention by angry gesticulations to the Indian dressing room, which was postulated to be due to his clashes with team management – Greg Chappell had been appointed as the new Indian coach and he had criticised Yuvraj.  Yuvraj Singh later praised Chappell's techniques.

Yuvraj in his ODI batting kit.Yuvraj had a good run of form late in 2005 and early in 2006 in ODIs.  Yuvraj Singh was named as the man of the series in three consecutive series, against South Africa (joint with Graeme Smith), and then against Pakistan and England, in which he scored three centuries and four half-centuries in fifteen matches, which propelled him into the top ten of the ICC ODI batting rankings. During the Pakistan tour, at times when captain and vice-captain Rahul Dravid and Virender Sehwag were absent, Yuvraj was the on-field captain.In the next series in the West Indies, Yuvraj hit two fifties in four games, and India won the series 4–1.  Yuvraj Singh performance was recognised with his shortlisting by the International Cricket Council (ICC) as one of four nominees for the One Day International player of the year award.

Yuvraj missed the first game in the series after that, the tri-series against Australia and West Indies, due to illness and after failing to reach double figures in the following two games, was axed in favour of Mohammed Kaif in the last group match.  Yuvraj Singh showed signs of returning to form in the Champions Trophy, hitting a restrained unbeaten 27 to guide India to victory against England in the opening game after he was recalled in place of Kaif, but a knee injury forced him out of the final group match.  Yuvraj Singh subsequently missed the tour of South Africa and was in doubt for the 2007 Cricket World Cup, but made a faster than expected recovery to play in the ODI series against the West Indies in India in January 2007.  Yuvraj Singh  struck a fluent 95 not out from 83 balls in India's final match against Sri Lanka before heading to the World Cup. At the World Cup, Yuvraj only managed one fifty against a lowly Bermuda and along with rest of the squad, was criticised for India's first-round exit. Nevertheless, Yuvraj kept his place in the side for the tours of Bangladesh and Ireland in 2007.

In September 2007, he was named as the ODI vice captain of Mahendra Singh Dhoni after the resignation of Rahul Dravid.  Yuvraj Singh  then scored 121 in a losing cause during India's One-day International series defeat at the hands of Australia before enjoying a return to form as India beat Pakistan 3–2 on home soil in November 2007 and he was named Man of the series. In the five matches, he scored four half-centuries, although he was fined after showing dissent in the final match in Jaipur.

In November 2008, he hit 138 not out from 78 balls against England at Rajkot, taking 64 balls to reach his century, which at the time was the second fastest by an Indian in ODIs, after Mohammad Azharuddin's century in 1988 against New Zealand came off 62 balls. After reaching 50 from 42 balls, he added a further 88 in the next 36 balls.  Yuvraj Singh  did so despite straining his back, which necessitated the use of Gautam Gambhir as a runner. This was followed by 118 from 122 balls and a 4/28—all his wickets being specialist batsmen—in the next match in Indore, earning him two consecutive man of the match awards.

In the 2011 World Cup, in India's match against Ireland, Yuvraj became the first player to take 5 wickets and score 50 runs in a World Cup match. Yuvraj Singh took his 100th ODI wicket, with the dismissal of the Netherlands' Wesley Barresi.  Yuvraj Singh won the Man of the Match award four times in a row, which is just the third time the feat has been achieved after Sri Lanka's Aravinda de Silva (1996) and South Africa's Lance Klusener (1999).Yuvraj scored 362 runs at average of 90.50 and took 15 wickets at 25.13 runs apiece.  Yuvraj Singh was hence declared the Man of the Tournament in the World Cup.

Test Career 

An innings-by-innings breakdown of Yuvraj's Test match batting career up to February 2008, showing runs scored (red bars) and the average of the last ten innings (blue line).Yuvraj made his Test debut against New Zealand in Mohali in late 2003 in front of his home crowd in Punjab due to the absence of regular captain Sourav Ganguly. Yuvraj Singh was omitted upon Ganguly's return but got another opportunity in the Test team in the 2004 Tour to Pakistan, when Ganguly was again injured.  Yuvraj Singh scored his first Test century in a losing effort against Pakistan in the second Test at Lahore. When Ganguly returned for the third Test, Akash Chopra was dropped and it appeared that the Indian selectors wanted to give him a regular place in the team.  Yuvraj Singh was subsequently played as Virender Sehwag's opening partner, but after two poor matches in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia, he was dropped in favour of Gautam Gambhir.  Yuvraj Singh was recalled to the Test team, batting in the No. 6 position for the away series against Zimbabwe in August 2005 after Sachin Tendulkar was sidelined with tennis elbow.  Yuvraj Singh then retained his position in the Test team after Ganguly was axed following a row with coach Greg Chappell.  Yuvraj Singh scored a second Test century in the third and final Test in Pakistan in the series in January 2006, which India again lost. However, Yuvraj has struggled subsequently in 2006, failing to pass 50 in six Tests against England (two, both at home) and the West Indies (four, all away from home).  Yuvraj Singh injury in late 2006 allowed the return of former captain Ganguly to the team, who subsequently top-scored in the series.

Yuvraj was included in India's Test squad to face Pakistan in November 2007, but was not included in the playing 11 for the first test. Yuvraj was picked in the 3rd Test due to an injured Sachin Tendulkar. India were 61/4 before he and Sourav Ganguly made a 300 run partnership with Yuvraj recording his highest Test score of 169.  Yuvraj Singh had a very poor Test series against Australia when India toured in 2007–08. After his poor showing in the first two Tests he was dropped for the remainder of the series. Yuvraj scored 85 not out and put on an unbroken partnership of 163 with Sachin Tendulkar to defeat England in the First Test at Chennai on 15 December 2008. It was the fourth highest successful run chase in history and the highest in India.

Yuvraj has taken a number of important wickets with his left-arm spin. Two "soft" dismissals of Kevin Pietersen in 2008, led to controversy. Pietersen, then the England captain, "labelled Yuvraj a "pie-chucker" and suggested that he was a purveyor of "left-arm filth"."

Twenty20 Career

On 19 September 2007 against England in the ICC World Twenty20 Super 8 match held at Kingsmead in Durban, he hit 6 'SIXES' in an over up against Stuart Broad. This helped him to reach the fastest fifty ever in Twenty20 game, off just 12 balls and also the fastest in any form of international cricket.This was the fourth time that six sixes had been hit in one over in senior cricket, the first time in Twenty20 cricket, and the first time in any form of international cricket against a bowler from a Test playing nation.  Yuvraj Singh has also hit the longest six of the tournament: 119 metres (390 ft) off of Australian bowler Brett Lee.Yuvraj was awarded a Porsche 911 for his 6 sixes achievement by the Vice President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Lalit Modi. Yuvraj also received Rs.10,000,000 (US$252,716) in cash from the BCCI for his performance in the tournament. Yuvraj Singh is also the first Indian player to cross 100 Sixes in Twenty 20 matches.

Yuvraj also scored 70 runs off 30 balls and went on to claim the Man of the Match against Australia in the World Twenty20 semifinals at Durban.

Yuvraj Singh was the icon player and captain for Indian Premier League (IPL) team Kings XI Punjab in the first two seasons; in 2010, the third season, icon player status was abolished and the captaincy given to Kumar Sangakkara. 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 picked up his first hat-trick in T20 cricket against Royal Challengers Bangalore at Kingsmead in Durban, the same ground where he hit his six sixes.  Yuvraj Singh 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. Yuvraj dismissed Herschelle Gibbs, Andrew Symonds and Venugopal Rao.

The Pune Warriors were a new team introduced for the 2011 IPL. Yuvraj Singh was bought by the team and chosen as captain. Pune Warriors finished ninth, ahead of only the Delhi Daredevils. From 14 matches, Yuvraj scored 343 runs at an average of 34.30, including two half-centuries.

Style 

Yuvraj during fielding practice.Yuvraj is primarily a left-handed batsman but can bowl part-time left-arm orthodox spin, which he improved in the latter part of his career.  Yuvraj Singh is regarded as being better at batting against fast bowling than spin bowling, and cites the Indian Oil Cup 2005 as a turning point in his career. Yuvraj Singh  is one of the better fielders in the Indian team, fielding primarily at point & covers with a good aim at the stumps.  Yuvraj Singh is a natural strokeplayer with an aggressive style of play, as seen by his strike rate of above 150 in T20 internationals & just below 90 in ODIs. Many regard him as one of the best timers of the cricket ball, with his trademark punch through the covers as a treat to watch. When in good nick, he can clear the ropes quite effortlessly. A Cricinfo report published in late 2005 showed that since 1999, he was the fourth most prolific fielder in affecting ODI run outs, and of those on the list of prolific fielders, he had the second highest rate of effecting a run out.  Yuvraj Singh was previously often characterised as having attitude problems, but later often assumed leadership positions during Rahul Dravid's tenure as captain.

Test Centuries

Test Cricket Centuries of Yuvraj Singh 

1 112 3  Pakistan Lahore, Pakistan Gaddafi Stadium 2004 

2 122 13  Pakistan Karachi, Pakistan National Stadium 2006 

3 169 20  Pakistan Bangalore, India M.Chinnaswamy Stadium 2007 

ODI Centuries

ODI Cricket Centuries of Yuvraj Singh 

1 102 71  Bangladesh Dhaka, Bangladesh Shere Bangla National Stadium 2003 

2 139 85  Australia Sydney, Australia Sydney Cricket Ground 2004 

3 110 120  West Indies Colombo, Sri Lanka R Premadasa Stadium 2005 

4 120 125  Zimbabwe Harare, Zimbabwe Harare Sports Club 2005 

5 103 134  South Africa Hyderabad, India Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium 2005 

6 107* 142  Pakistan Karachi, Pakistan National Stadium, Karachi 2006 

7 103 145  England Margao, India Nehru Stadium, Fatorda, Margao 2006 

8 121 186  Australia Hyderabad, India Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium 2007 

9 138* 218  England Rajkot, India Madhavrao Scindia Cricket Ground 2008 

10 118 219  England Indore, India Maharani Usharaje Trust Cricket 2008 

11 117 225  Sri Lanka Colombo, Sri Lanka R Premadasa Stadium 2009 

12 131 233  West Indies Kingston, Jamaica Sabina Park 2009 

13 113 271  West Indies Chennai, India MA Chidambaram Stadium 2011 

County Cricket

After the 2003 World Cup, Yuvraj was signed by Yorkshire, becoming 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 described it as an important learning experience.

Commercial Interests

Yuvraj was signed by Microsoft to be a brand ambassador for the Xbox 360 video game console when it was launched in India in 2006.  Yuvraj Singh appeared in advertisements for the console alongside Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar. Codemasters' cricket video game Brian Lara International Cricket 2007 was released with his endorsement in India, titled "Yuvraj Singh International Cricket 2007" The Bollywood animated film, Jumbo features cricketer Yuvraj Singh's voice therefore starting his career in Bollywood.The upcoming animated full length feature film Captain India features Yuvraj Singh as the main protagonist.