2) Yuvraj’s father, Yograj Singh, has played cricket for India for a few years. But when he couldn’t achieve the dreams in his youth he pushed his son to do the same. So while Yuvraj wasn’t interested in playing cricket his father made sure he cultivated the interest and would do all sorts of tricks to make him play. Yuvraj said, “I was not allowed more than 30mins each day to hang out with friends. All weekdays I was forced to play cricket and no other sport. Guess, today whatever I’m as a cricketer the credit goes to my father. You can say he was like a Hitler to me in my childhood!”
3) Yuvraj is the only Indian crickter after Sachin Tendulkar to have been signed by English county Yorkshire, an honor few overseas players are bestowed upon.
4) Yuvraj Singh was signed by Microsoft as a brand ambassador when the Xbox 360 video game console was launched in the Indian market way back in 2006.
5) As a kid, Yuvraj was very fond of roller-skating. In fact, he won theNational U-14 Roller Skating Championship. But Yograj Singh, his father, threw away the medal and told his son to focus on cricket. Yuvraj was also good with tennis. But both his love had to be sacrifice who commanded him to pursue cricket.
6) As a teenager, Yuvraj was sent to Mumbai to train at the Elf-Vengsarkar Cricket Academy. During his stay in Mumbai, Yuvraj lived with cricket writer Makarand Waingankar’s residence in Andheri, which is miles away from the academy. Waingankar recalls in his book Yuvi that Yuvraj was intimidated by the number of people in Mumbai so much so that he told him, ‘Mac uncle. Bombay is full of people. Chandigarh is full of trees.
7) As a child, Yuvraj acted in a couple of movies. Yograj Singh, Yuvraj’s father, had also got into films after his retirement.
8) Playing for the Punjab under-19s in a Vijay Merchant Trophy match against Jammu and Kashmir under-16s in 1996, Yuvraj smashed 279 out of a team score of 498. Jammu and Kashmir under-16s managed only 65 and 149 in their two innings. This meant that Yuvraj alone had outscored the opposition’s match tally by 65 runs.
9) laying for the Punjab under-19s against Bihar under-19s in the Cooch Behar Trophy final in December 1999, Yuvraj smashed 358 off 404 balls. His innings featured 40 fours and six sixes. Interestingly, future Indian skipper MS Dhoni was a part of the opposition and had scored 84 when his team batted.
10) T20 cricket began in England in 2003 and that year three Indians — Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif and Virender Sehwag — were a part of the county cricket. On June 14, 2003, both Yuvraj and Kaif became the first Indians to play T20 cricket when Yorkshire faced Derbyshire. Yuvraj scored 44 in that match. A couple of days later, Yuvraj hit 71 against Sehwag’s Leicestershire to become the first Indian to score a fifty in T20 cricket.
11) YUVI created a memorable innings with Mohammed Kaif in the NatWest series 2007
12) DURBAN, September 19. 2007: Yuvraj Singh smashed fast bowler Stuart Broad for six sixes in an over as India piled
up 218-4 in a must-win match against England in the Twenty20 world championship.
13) Yuvraj is a huge Sachin fan since childhood. Yuvraj cherishes those moments he spent on the crease with the master blaster, and rates that test in Chennai in 2008 when he had a crucial partnership with Sachin to win India the match as one of his greatest cricketing moments.
14) Yuvraj Singh has also been part of an animated Bollywood film Jumbo, produced by Akshay Kumar. While Akshay became the voice of Jumbo, the elephant, in the Hindi version of the film, Yuvraj did so for the Punjabi version. In Hindi version, Yuvraj was Rajkumar Vikramaditya’s voice.
15) Yuvraj Singh was just 15 or 16 when his parents got divorced. While the school-going Yuvi wanted to live with his mother, financial problems forced him to stay with his father. He reminisced how from his first paycheck of Rs 21 lac, he had bought his mother a house and quickly moved in with her. He also recalled that the budget allowed him to buy a house only in Chandigarh and that a house in Delhi was still out of his reach.
16) In 1985, Ravi Shastri had famously won an Audi for helping India clinch the World Series Down Under. In 2011, when Yuvraj Singh’s all-round performance helped India lift the World Cup, Audi presented a Q5 to him. This was not the first time he had been presented a car for his feats on the field of play. In 2007, his breathtaking performances in the ICC World T20 won him a Porsche 911. The then Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) vice-president Lalit Modi had announced the prize.
17) Through the 2011 World Cup, Yuvraj battled with health issues. Unknown to anyone, a tumour had developed in his left lung. He continued to play until the end of the year when it was diagnosed as a malignant growth. Yuvraj flew to the United States of America for treatment in early 2012. Through his ordeal, he took inspiration from Lance Armstrong, the cyclist who overcame cancer to win the Tour de France numerous times. Only months after his chemotherapy cycles, Yuvraj returned to the Indian side and made his comeback during a T20 against New Zealand in September 2012. Since his comeback, Yuvraj has been a part of cancer awareness drives, which includes his own initiative named YouWeCan.
18) It was difficult for Yuvraj to accept that he was diagnosed with lung cancer. He revealed that while he was playing ICC World Cup 2011, he had no idea that he was suffering from the dreadful disease. Then came the IPL, but Yuvi continued to ignore the feeling of being sick. It was one day, he saw a doctor and a 14 cm tumor was detected above his left lung. Yuvi was worried about his mother during his days of battling the cancer. The thought whether or not he would ever be able to play cricket again haunted him too. But the treatment at the right time and Yuvi's positive energy soon restored his health. Post his recovery, Yuvi has started YouWeCan, an initiative to help cancer patients across the globe.
19) When he was 7 years old, he kept insisting his mother to buy him a bicycle. When she finally agreed, Yuvraj jammed the bicycle onto a rickshaw on the very first ride and ended up with 10 STITCHES.
20) When one of Yuvraj's friends brought an air gun when they were young, and nobody could figure out how it worked, Yuvi took the matter into his own hands and accidently shot his friend in the stomach! Thankfully no damage was done.
21) Yuvraj,being from a Punjabi film, was born aggressive. On field, he expresses his anger by hitting extraordinary shot! He used to throw his bat if he got out. Sachin Tendulkar told him "the bat you just threw, that brings food to your home. Never do that again." Yuvi never repeated the same mistake again.
22) He was playing World Cup in 2011, so he ignored the chest pain and continued playing. Like a lion he brought victory to team India. Later, It was his patience and strong spirit that helped him win the game of life.
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