In a candid conversation on Home of Heroes, Sports18’s newest offering, former India cricketer Yuvraj Singh recalled the prank skipper Sourav Ganguly played on him just a night before his debut innings at the 2000 ICC Knockout tournament. The skipper had asked the then 18-year-old Yuvraj if he would open in the all-important match the next day. “Yeah, if you want me to open, I’ll open,” remembered Yuvraj telling his skipper. “Whole night I didn’t sleep.”
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On the morning of the match, the captain confessed to pulling a fast one and opened the innings himself. India reached 265 against Australia powered by a stroke-filled 84 from Yuvraj, who came into bat at No.5. Yuvraj debut ODI match was against New Zealand, but he did not get to bat. It was in the second he got to bat and his 80-ball knock earned him his first Player of the Match award as well.
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“I was batting at No. 5, very nervous. But when I went into bat, focus turned to watching the ball,” recollected Yuvraj who faced the likes of Brett Lee, Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie and the trademark Aussie sledding. But the day was meant to be his as he got dropped on 37. “If I today would’ve scored 37 on my debut against Australia, I would’ve been very happy because of the attack that I was facing,” Yuvraj says.
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“Luckily, I went on to score 84, I don’t know how, just watched the ball, hit the ball. It was a very big moment for me, to beat Australia and get the Man-of-the-Match award,” says Yuvraj who remembered the importance of running out Michael Bevan.
India dispatched the then world champions home from Nairobi with some sensational contributions from an 18-year-old Yuvraj. After impressive willow-work, while fielding Yuvraj flung himself to pluck a stunner sending pinch-hitter Ian Harvey back but the direct hit to run out Bevan sealed Australia’s fate.
Home of Heroes will be a no-holds-barred conversation with leading figures in Indian sport. During these interviews, some of India’s leading sportsmen and women will reflect on their life and times as elite athletes and offer their perspectives on the key issues dominating their sport. Free-flowing, candid and intimate, it will invite the viewer to experience their sporting heroes in a new light.
Watch the first part of Yuvraj Singh’s interview on Sports18 tonight at 7:00 PM.
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