6 Indian legends who bid goodbye this decade
The decade gone by witnessed many highs and lows in Indian cricket. The biggest moment of course came at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on April 2, 2011 as MS Dhoni-led India to a famous World Cup triumph. It was India’s first World Cup win since Kapil Dev’s men created history at Lord’s in 1983. The other memorable triumph came in England when India won the Champions Trophy in 2013. Following this victory, Dhoni became the first captain in international cricket to have lofted all 3 ICC trophies. In Tests, Virat Kohli-led India have been on a roll. They remained unbeaten in 2019, and are currently the number one Test side in the world.
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Among the major disappointments in the decade were the Test series loss at home to England in 2012, the World Cup semi-final defeats in 2015 and 2019, World T20 losses in the final and semi-final in 2014 and 2016 respectively, and the embarrassing Champions Trophy final defeat in 2017. Along the way, some legends of Indian cricket also hung up their boots. Here’s a look at six of them.
#6. Yuvraj Singh
Yuvraj Singh - who played a stellar role in India’s 2011 World Cup win at home, announced his international retirement in June 2019. Yuvraj was the player of the tournament in the 2011 World Cup, scoring 362 runs and claiming 15 wickets. Diagnosed with cancer just months after the grand achievement, he returned to the sport a year later, but could not achieve the same heights.
Yuvraj featured in 304 ODIs for India, amassing 8,701 runs at an average of 36.5 with 14 hundreds and 52 fifties at a strike rate of 87.7. He also claimed 111 wickets with his left-arm spin. In 58 T20Is, he notched up 1,177 runs at a strike rate of 136.38, slamming eight fifties. The southpaw wasn’t as successful in Tests, scoring 1,900 matches in 40 matches at an average of 33.92 with three hundreds and 11 fifties.
The left-hander will always be remembered for hitting England's Stuart Broad for 6 sixes in an over during the World T20 match at Durban in 2007. He was part of the Indian U-19 squad that won the World Cup in 2000. His made his Indian debut the same year, during ICC Knock-out Trophy in Kenya. In just his second match, Yuvraj smashed a match-winning 84 against an Australian attack comprising Glenn McGrath, Brett Lee and Jason Gillespie.
Yuvraj last played for India in an ODI in West Indies in June 2017.