Yuvraj Singh is widely regarded as one of India’s top white-ball cricketers. He was a key player for India in the 2007 T20 World Cup and was named Player of the Tournament in the country’s dramatic 2011 World Cup triumph.
The all-rounder represented India in 304 One-Day Internationals and 58 Twenty-20 Internationals. Yuvraj, on the other hand, had a red-ball career, although a promising one, that fans rarely acknowledge.
Yuvraj made his Test debut against New Zealand in Mohali in 2003 and went on to play 40 Tests for India, scoring 1900 runs at 33.92 with three hundred and 11 fifties. The former India cricketer believes he should have had a longer rope in the longest format.
I wanted to play 100 Test matches for India: Yuvraj Singh
Yuvraj Singh discussed why he was unable to extend his Test career. Yuvraj played Test cricket at a time when India’s top-order included batting legends Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, VVS Laxman, and Sourav Ganguly.
“If you compare that era to today’s era, you can see players getting 10-15 matches. You look at that era, you could open like the way Viru started it. After that Dravid, Sachin, Ganguly, and Laxman. I got a hundred in Lahore and in the next Test I was told to open,” Yuvraj Singh said.
Yuvraj had made a good start to his Test career, scoring 59 in his first-ever Test in Pakistan before going on to score 112 in Lahore. In Rawalpindi, he finished the 2004 tour with a spirited 119-ball 47. A year later, he scored two 70s against Sri Lanka at home before returning to Pakistan and scoring 122 in Karachi.
Yuvraj revealed that by the time he was able to play Test cricket on a regular basis following the retirement of former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly, he had been diagnosed with cancer.
“Eventually, when I got opportunities to play Test cricket after Dada’s retirement, I got diagnosed with cancer,” Yuvraj added.
The 40-year-old stated he tried his hardest to be a regular in Test cricket, scoring 1900 runs including three tonnes and 11 half-centuries, but it wasn’t meant to be.
“It has just been bad luck. I tried 24×7. I wanted to play 100 Test matches, face those fast bowlers, and bat for two days. I gave it everything, but it was not meant to be,” he said.
