Muttiah Muralitharan and Glenn McGrath are the toughest bowlers I faced, says Yuvraj Singh

One of the most illustrious careers in modern-day limited-over cricket came to an end on Monday when Yuvraj Singh called it quits officially. The 37-year-old left-hand batting all-rounder represented India in international cricket for 17 years and scaled several heights during this time. Yuvraj, who last played for India in 2017, said in a press conference in Mumbai that he has decided to move on. His retirement comes into effect immediately.

Yuvraj, who was the Man of the Series of the 2011 World Cup that India had won at home, also battled cancer after that tournament and remains a high symbol of survival and is looked up to as a social idol. He returned to play international cricket after his stint with the deadly disease though his form in tournaments like the Indian Premier League fell over the last few seasons. In 2019, he narrowly missed the bus in the IPL as Mumbai Indians bought him at the last moment though he did not get to play much matches.

Ponting, Gayle Yuvraj’s favourite overseas cricketers

Yuvraj spoke on various issues related to the game while announcing his international retirement. He named the bowlers that he found the most challenging and also his favourite overseas cricketers. Yuvraj said the bowlers that he found the toughest were Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan and Australia’s Glenn McGrath. He also mentioned that former Australia captain Ricky Ponting and West Indian opener Chris Gayle remain his favourites overseas cricketers.

Yuvraj made his batting debut against Australia in the ICC KnockOut Trophy (now the Champions Trophy) in Nairobi in 2000 and scored a scintillating 80-ball 84 to help India win and bag the man of the match award. He went on to play in three World Cups and 304 ODIs overall, scoring over 8,700 runs and taking 111 wickets with his left-arm orthodox spin.

He scored 14 ODI hundreds, the last of which had come in January 2017 against England in Cuttack. Yuvraj also played in 40 Tests and 58 T20Is but couldn’t establish himself as an equally reliable name in red-ball cricket.