The 2nd ODI at Cuttack between India and England was something which has acquired the top slot in the record books and the innings played by the two batting wizards will last long in the mind of every cricket fan. The Mahi-Yuvi show at the Barabati stadium not only set-up certain new milestones but it was a real fun watching Yuvraj and MS Dhoni knocking centuries after six and three years respectively.
Especially, Yuvraj, who made a comeback after a long time and blew every single mind in the universe through his splendid knock. But as they say, the bed of roses doesn’t come easy! Something similar happened with Yuvi.
The 2011 world cup Man of the Series though survived cancer and came back on the field but a ticket to the ODI team was getting harder for the Punjabi Lad. As he said after his hilarious knock of 150, there was a phase in his life when he had almost given up.
(Picture: BCCI)
He said,”There was a time when I was wondering whether to continue or not to continue. I came back after recovering from cancer, the first 2-3 years were very hard. I had to work hard on my fitness and I was in and out of the team. I was not able to get a permanent spot.”
(Picture: BCCI)
“I think a lot of people have helped me throughout this journey. So, never giving up is my theory. So I never gave up, kept working hard. I knew times will change,”he added.
Also read: Yuvraj breaks Sachin’s record against England, hits century after 6 years
Greatness comes to you when you give importance to the efforts made by someone junior or younger to you. Yuvraj did exactly the same. He praised the captaincy of Virat Kohli and gave him the entire credit of his comeback. He said,”Self-confidence is always there when you have the backing of the team and captain. I think Virat has shown a lot of trust in me and it was very important to me that people in the dressing room trust me.”
(Picture: BCCI)
Prior to this ODI series, Yuvraj’s name getting included in the cards was something exciting for his fans as, after a phenomenal performance in the domestic season, he got the entry in the squad. And Yuvi didn’t fail anybody who trusted on him this time.
Also read: A Yuvraj-Dhoni show in Cuttack, smashed England like never before!
“I’ve been batting well in the domestic season. And I’ve been hitting the ball really well. I wanted to make it big on my day,” he said. He himself felt amazing after scoring a huge of runs for his country. He said,”Definitely, 150 is a huge score in one-day cricket. It’s my highest and taken a long time to get there but I am very happy it happened today. Hopefully, in the coming time, I can contribute more consistently.”
(Picture: BCCI)
Yuvi also enjoyed sharing the crease with MSD. He said,”We two were the most experienced players in the team. He realised that I was getting boundaries. He was just there rotating the strike and our first target to make a 25 runs together then go for 50 partnership. After that, we wanted to take it further to 100. I think once that happened we were both set.”
The mountain partnership of 256 runs was something which reminded each of us of the old days, in the 2000s, when this duo had smashed the opponents — especially those 6 sixes in 2007.
