A one billion cricket crazy nation is kept in suspense. Who is the mystery
man which Yuvraj talked about ?
It can be Yograj Singh, his father or Sachin. It was he who inspired him in his
bad patch !
Yuvraj said his inspiration has been a 'special' person, a person who comes
to his mind in a pressure situation !
His father, Yograj says it can be Sachin !
"I would not be surprised if he meant Sachin," said Yograj. "Sachin has been
a huge influence in his life over the last 11 years or so. He has always
been there when Yuvraj was going through a difficult phase in his career."
"Sachin is not just a great cricketer but also a great human being. He has
been Yuvraj's guiding angel. My son is very close to him and shares things
he would not share with anyone else."
Injuries and poor form had Melancholy mark him for her own, but Yuvraj, the
mastermind behind India's 2007 T20 WC triumph, once again showed that he is
world class.
Yograj said it was Sachin who inspired him during his bad days. "Sachin
must have been my son in previous life or some other close relation. He has
been the best thing to happen to Indian cricket and also to Yuvraj," said
Yograj, a formed all rounder who played for India in only one Test against
NZ. "He advised Yuvraj to keep working hard and maintain focus. There was
lot of scepticism in the air but only his mother and Sachin had an
unflinching trust in my son. Frankly speaking, any cricketer who has
listened to Sachin has benefitted. When he eventually retires, the cricket
board should appoint Sachin the mentor of the Indian cricket team. He can
turn any ordinary player into a phenomenal one. "
While Indian cric cracks extoll Sachin and Sehwag, now the player who has
stolen the limelight is Yuvraj with four fifites, one century and 11 WC
wickets ! He is Man of the Match four times and may be the Man of the
Tournament !
He had donned the garb of the finisher ! Like Michael Bevan of Australia !
"Finishing a game gives me a lot of confidence going into the next match.
I'm just happy about how I am hitting the ball. My responsibility is to bat
till the end whether we are batting first or chasing a target," said Yuvraj.
"I missed quite a bit of cricket over a year and a half due to injuries and
now to come back and play my part in victories is very satisfying."
An unconquered 57 not out against Australia saw India romp home with five
wickets to spare.
One reporter asked him " Whatever you are touching are now turning to gold
?", to which Yuvi replied "I think so. Last year, whatever I was doing was
turning into mud."
It is true that Yuvraj is not the six hitter of old, having hit six sixes
against Stuart Broad in one over. Now he believes hitting the ball to the
ground and placing the ball . His strike rate is below 100 in this World Cup but his team
have understood his sheet anchor role.
He solved India's bowling problem and became India's fifth bowler ! He took
five for against IRE. "I am a part-time bowler and when I got those five
wickets I was as happy as I was when I scored my first one-day international
hundred. I think it's an achievement for a part-timer to get five wickets,"
he said. His rise was meteoric, when he cracked a brisk 84 against an
Australian attack comprising MacGrath, Lee and Gillespie in
Nairobi in 2000.
Now he comes to his home ground in Mohali. One or two performances and he
will be the Man of the Tournament ! His performance so far - 8,030 runs in 272
matches with 13 hundreds & wickets 105!.
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