India wouldn’t have won two World Cups without Yuvraj: Harbhajan Singh

For staunch cricket supporters of the 21st century, Yuvraj Singh is not just a name. He is more than just that and in fact, he is an emotion. When we talk about his name, it truly signifies grit, dedication, hard work and a sensational talent. Sometimes, we even run short of adjectives or superlatives to describe him in his prime days. Especially for the initial decade of the new millennium, he was easily the most stylish cricketer around.

Besides that, he was a great finisher and a deadly match-winner. The elegant southpaw who has given us countless moments of magic on the field will never be forgotten for giving India two World Cup trophies in 2011 and 2007. He won India’s 2011 World Cup hero while suffering from a rare germ cell cancer and was probably coughing blood the night before.

Meanwhile, veteran Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh showered praise on his former teammate Yuvraj Singh, crediting him for India’s glories at the 2007 World T20 and 2011 ODI World Cup. Both Harbhajan and Yuvraj Singh won the World Cup twice under MS Dhoni’s tutelage in the two formats. Harbhajan stressed on the fact that Yuvraj Singh was one of the players in the side who sprinkled stardust all over places and helped India come through with flying colours in both tournaments.

“When we are talking about the World Cup. Where Indian cricket has reached now, I think Yuvraj Singh has had a huge role to play. People often talk about Sachin Tendulkar, people often talk about Sourav Ganguly, Anil Kumble and Kapil Dev. However, if there was no Yuvraj Singh, I don’t think we would have had those 2 World Cups — 2007 and 2011,” Harbhajan Singh was quoted as saying by India Today.

Yuvraj Singh was named Man of the tournament in 2011 World Cup

One of the finest all-rounders to have represented India, Yuvraj played 40 Tests and 304 ODIs, amassing 1900 and 8701 runs respectively while also picking up 148 international wickets to his credit. Harbhajan Singh said it was due to Yuvraj Singh, India came a long way to touch the pinnacle of success.

“All due to this guy for making this happen. Thank you Yuvi. If you didn’t have Yuvraj Singh, we would have only reached the semi-final. Good teams reach the semi-final. This time also, we reached the semi-final. To win a World Cup, you need a player like Yuvraj Singh. We were lucky and fortunate to have had someone like Yuvraj,” Harbhajan added.

It is worth mentioning here that Yuvraj Singh was one of the heroes of India’s 2011 World Cup success where he showcased his mettle with all-round performances. The flamboyant left-hander bludgeoned some crucial knocks with the willow and also took important wickets to help the Men in Blue end a trophy drought after 28-years to get hold of the second World Cup crown.

Yuvraj Singh ended the marquee event with 362 runs and 15 wickets to his name. Rightly so, he was named the Man of the tournament for his outstanding spells. The left-hander called it quits from international cricket, earlier this year. He has since been featuring in T20 leagues across the world barring the Indian Premier League. The southpaw was last seen in Abu Dhabi T10 League where he plied his trade for the Maratha Arabians.

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