Yuvraj Singh, an Indian cricketer, was born on December 12, 1981 in Chandigarh. He is the son of Yograj Singh, a former Indian fast bowler and a Punjabi movie star, and Shabnam Singh, an actress. Nicknamed “Yuvi” in the cricket world, he exhibits slow left arm orthodox bowling and left-handed batting, making him an all-rounder. Yuvraj Singh idolizes Sir Garfield St Auburn Sobers, a cricketing genius, and became the only player after Garry Sobers to hit six 6’s in an over.
His impressive performances as a captain of the Under-19 Punjab cricket team, at the finals of the Cooch- Behar Trophy, against Bihar, which earned him a spot in the U-19 2000 World Cup squad in Sri Lanka, during which Yuvraj Singh was named as the Player of the Series.
In late 2003, he made his Test debut against New Zealand and his first Test century came in his second Test match against Pakistan in Lahore. Yuvraj Singh made a remarkable come back to the Test side and scored his career best 169 in a match against Pakistan in November 2007, which came in a 300-run partnership with Sourav Ganguly. As of 2008, he has played in 23 Tests, scoring 1050 at an average of 32.81.
In 2000, Yuvraj Singh played his first One Day International (ODI) match against Kenya at Nairobi in the International Cricket Council (ICC) Knockout Trophy. In his second ODI, he announced his arrival in the international scene by scoring an impressive 84 off 82 balls in a match against Australia. In the following year, Yuvraj Singh scored an unbeaten 98, which helped his side win the match against Sri Lanka and followed it with a memorable partnership with Mohammad Kaif in the finals of Natwest Series against England in July 2002, once again contributing to India’s win.
Yuvraj Singh scored his first ODI century in a match against Bangladesh in 2003 and his third century (110) came in a 2005 Indian Oil Cup match against the West Indies, during which he set up an important partnership with Kaif. He was rewarded with the Man of the Match award for this performance in the last match of this series, which was a major turning point in his career. Yuvraj Singh was named as the Man of the Series in three successive series, against South Africa, Pakistan and England, during which he made three centuries in fifteen matches and also earned a spot in the ICC ODI top ten batsmen rankings.
Owing to the absence of captain and vice-captain, Yuvraj Singh was the on-field captain in few matches during the Pakistan tour, and was also shortlisted as one of the four nominees for the International One Day player of the year award by ICC. In September 2007, Yuvraj Singh was made the ODI vice captain, and a couple of months later, he contributed to India’s 3-2 win against Pakistan by scoring four half-centuries in five matches and was named the Man of the Series.
Yuvraj Singh made his Twenty20 International (T20I) Scotland on September 13, 2007 at Durban. On September 19, 2007 Yuvraj Singh hit six 6’s off one Stuart Broad over, in the ICC World Twenty20 Super-8 match, making him reach the fastest fifty ever in Twenty20 game, and also the fastest in any form of international cricket. It was also 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 also hit the longest six of the tournament and is the world's leading 20-20 batsman in terms of strike rate as of 2008. He was presented with a Porsche 911 car by the Vice President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and also received Rs.1,00,00,000 from the BCCI for his for his six 6’s achievement. Yuvraj Singh also scored 70 runs off 30 balls against Australia in the World Twenty20 semifinals and was named as the Man of the Match.
Yuvraj Singh has been rated by Cricinfo in 2005 as the fourth most prolific fielder in effecting ODI run outs and had the second highest rate of effecting a run out, since 1999.
Yuvraj Singh was purchased as the icon player for the Kings XI Punjab team for the 2008 Indian Premier League (IPL), during which he captained 15 matches, scoring 299 runs with 57 being his best.
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