1) Kumar Sangakkara was born to Kumari Surangana and Kshema sangakkara in Matale and grew up in Kandy.
2) Kumar Sangakkara met his wife Yehali when he was about 16-17 and has been with her for well over 20 years now. Without a doubt, it’s been the bestpartnership of his life. The couple has twins, a girl and a boy: Swyree and Kavith.
3) Kumar Sangakkara has done his schooling at Trinity College, an elite private boys’ school situated in Kandy. He was the Head Boy of school and was also awarded the highest honour of Trinity College, the Ryde Gold Medal, for the best all-round student.
4) Sangakkara later pursued a degree in the Arts stream in 1996 and enrolled for a degree in Law at the University of Colombo, but was unable to finish it due to his cricket commitments.
5) Kumar Sangakkara played a number of sports like badminton, tennis, swimming, table tennis and cricket during his school days and even represented his country in badminton, tennis and cricket at his younger age.
6) Despite being good at so many sports, Sangakkara started to look at cricket as a serious option after a timely advice from the then principal of his college, Leonard de Alwis, who advised his mother to encourage Sangakkara to concentrate on cricket.
7) Kumar Sangakkara made his international debut in an ODI match against Pakistan at Galle in 2001
8) The 37-year-old made his Test debut against South Africa at Galle in 2001.
9) Sangakkara has scored 38 Test centuries, which puts him at fourth position behind Ricky Ponting (41), Jacques Kallis (45) and Sachin Tendulkar (51).
10) Sangakkara along with Mahela Jayawardene still owns the record for the highest partnership in Tests (624) for any wicket.
11) Kumar Sangakkara became the youngest person to deliver the MCC Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey lecture at Lord’s. He was the first active international player to deliver that lecture, which was widely praised by the cricketing community for its outspoken nature.
12) Kumar Sangakkara won three ICC awards in 2012 – Cricketer of the Year, Test Cricketer of the Year and People’s Choice award.
13) In 2012, he became the second Sri Lankan after Mahela Jayawardene to get to the 10,000-run mark in Tests. He became the joint-fastest batsman to get to the landmark.
14) Kumar Sangakkara's highest score in Test is 319, which he scored against Bangladesh at Chittagong in 2014.
15) Kumar Sangakkara scored 11 Test double centuries in his fabulous career, just one behind Don Bradman's record of 12 double tons.
16) Kumar Sangakkara was named the ICC ODI player of the year in 2013.
17) Kumar Sangakkara is the first batsman to score four centuries on the trot in ODIs.
18) As a specialist batsman only Don Bradman has a higher average than him.
19) In the list of batsmen who have scored highest runs in Tests, Sanga lies at number five with 12350 runs, behind Rahul Dravid (13288), Jacques Kallis (13289), Ricky Ponting (13378) and Sachin Tendulkar (15921).
20) With 501 victims behind the wicket, he surpassed Adam Gilchrist’s 472 ODI dismissals by quite a margin.
21) Kumar Sangakkara is the second highest run scorer in ODI matches after Sachin Tendulkar.
22) Kumar Sanggakkara has played cricket from the age of 7 years, when he joined Sunil Fernando’s private coaching classes. Sunil also used to coach Muttiah Muralitharan during the after school classes.
23) Kumar Sangakkara is the first batsman to score four back-to-back centuries in an ICC World Cup.
1) Matthew Lawrence Hayden was born on 29 October 1971, in Queensland Australia
2) Matthew Hayden made his First-Class debut for Queensland just two days after he turned 20. Hayden scored 149 in his very first innings against South Australia. In 1991, hayden played his very first List A match against West Indians A. he was run out for 49 in the match but he impressed all
3) Debuting against South Africa at Johannesburg in 1994 and up against a lineup that included Allan Donald, Fanie de Villiers, Craig Mathews and Brian McMillan, Matthew Hayden found the attack too hot to handle and was promptly dropped from the squad
4) Australia’s India tour in 2001 will go down as one of the greatest series ever between the two sides. The visitors, who were expected to thrash India, lost the series 2-1, but that series marked the turnaround for Hayden. On difficult turning wickets, Hayden amassed 549 runs from just three Tests and ensured hayden was a permanent fixture at the Aussie top order for the many years that followed
5) When Hayden retired his opening partner Justin Langer complemented him as the “best ever opener from Australia.”Hayden and Langer formed a strong pair in Test cricket. They hold fourth rank in the list of highest partnership runs in Test cricket
6) Matthew Hayden made his maiden century 125 against the West Indies at Adelaide but averaged only 21.7 for the series with two ducks
7) Matthew Hayden was dropped from the team, after a wretched tour of South Africa as the selectors favoured other openers, in particular, Mark Taylor and Matthew Elliott, for the next few years
8) Matthew Hayden played youth cricket in Australia as a teenager, before going pro as a 19-year old
9) On October 10, 2003, hayden set an individual Test innings record against the Zimbabwe at Perth in October 2003, scoring 380 runs on just 437 balls, Hayden broke Brian Lara’s record of 375 which was the previous highest individual Test score
10) His numbers looked more than impressive by the time when hayden retired. Hayden became one of the greatest openers. Hayden has 8,625 runs from 103 Tests with an average of 50.73,with 30 centuries. In ODIs, he has 6,133 runs with an average of 43.80. He played only 9 T20’s and averaged 51.33 at a strike-rate of 144
11) Andrew Symonds and Matthew Hayden both love fishing. In 2000, Hayden, Symonds and another friend went fishing, and the boat sunk. This left the trio in deep water, and they had to swim for more than three hours to reach an island. Not only did Hayden do it, he effectively had to drag Symonds along. Bear in mind, there were sharks in the water
12) Matthew Hayden played three seasons for Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and was significant for them. With Hayden CSK won the trophy in 2010. Hayden also won the Orange Cap in IPL 2009. Hayden then played for Brisbane Heat in the Big Bash League (BBL) for two seasons
13) Matthew Hayden was a prolific batsman for the Queensland first-class cricket team. playing 101 matches, and scored 8831 runs at an average of 54.85
14) In front of his home Brisbane crowd, hayden scored 197 and 103 in the first 2002-03 Ashes Test, the match in which Nasser Hussain famously invited Australia to bat
15) Matthew Hayden has involved himself in a lot of charity work. Hayden is often seen donning the role of a cricket commentator. He is recently helping the young cricketers in Noida, India. Hayden also loves to cook
16) Hayden has featured in two World Cup sides for Australia 2003 and 2007 and the team went on to lift the trophy on both occasions. Hayden has scored 987 runs at 51.94 in World Cup games. Hayden was the highest run-scorer in the 2007 World Cup, where hayden amassed 659 runs at 73.22 and a strike-rate of over 101. He smashed three centuries in the tournament as well
17) Matthew Hayden made headlines when he used the long handled Mongoose bat in IPL 2010. It was the talk of the town, but for some reason has not caught on since
18) Matthew Hayden scored over 1,000 Test runs in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005, the first man to achieve the feat five times. He was selected as one of Wisden’s five 2003 Cricketers of the Year
19) MatthewHayden form in the 2006-07 Ashes series against England was average hayden failed to reach 40 in the first three innings of the series, but he returned to form with scores of 92 in Perth, and 153 in the Boxing Day Test
20) Hayden will be seen once again. Hayden has signed a contract with Shane Warne and Sachin Tendulkar’s Cricket All-Stars. In November 2015, hayden will be seen into crease for Tendulkar’s Blasters. It includes 3 T20 games to be played in the United States
21) Matthew Hayden is married to Kellie Hayden and the couple have a daughter named Grace, and two sons named Joshua and Thomas Joseph
22) Matthew Hayden performed well in the 2007–2008 summer against India, aggregating over 400 runs with three centuries in the 4-Test series, to bring his career total to 30 centuries and broke Bradman’s record
23) In February 2007, Matthew Hayden posted his highest ODI score 181 not out against New Zealand at Seddon Park in Hamilton. It was the highest ODI innings ever by an Australian
24) Matthew Hayden was Australia’s Test Player of the Year in 2002, ODI Player of the Year in 2008 and ICC’s ODI Player of the Year in 2007
1) Graeme Craig Smith was born on 1st February, 1981 in Johannesburg, South Africa, Smith went to the prestigious King Edward VII School. The school boasts of rich alumni and many top South African sportsmen have attended here. Cricketers Ali Bacher, Adam Bacher, Quinton de Kock and many other international cricketers have attended this school
2) Graeme Smith is Left-handed opening batsman and captain of the South African cricket team Test side and debuted domestically for Gauteng in 1999
3) Smith captained his 100th career Test match on 1 February 2013, against Pakistan, on his 32nd Birthday
4) Smith played three Tests multi-day and seven one day matches for South Africa Under-19s, Smith played the U-19 World Cup in Sri Lanka in 2000. This tournament was won by India and it marked the rise of Yuvraj Singh and India’s U-19 captain Mohammad Kaif. The South African side was led by Thami Tsolekile, who later played under Smith as a wicketkeeper, Smith emerged as the top scorer in the tournament
5) Graeme Smith made his Test debut for South Africa in 2002 in Cape Town against Australia
6) Graeme Smith was 22 years, 82 days and only eight test matches old when Smith was handed the South African Test captaincy, making him country’s youngest Test captain and number fourth on the list of youngest Test captains all over the world
7) Smith is currently the most successful Test captain, having overtaken Ricky Ponting’s 48 Test victories
8) Graeme Smith is the youngest ever South African cricketer to lead the side
9) Graeme Smith also holds the world record of highest number of wins in Test matches as skipper with 53 wins
10) The 2005-06 ODI series between Australia and South Africa was evenly balanced 2-2 ahead of the final game at Johannesburg. Australia became the first team to cross the 400-run barrier in ODIs as they posted 434. Their record was short-lived, as in a one of its kind match, South Africa chased the total down. Gibbs’ 175 made the difference for the hosts but Smith played a crucial role with his 55-ball 90.
11) In December 2008, Graeme Smith saw his greatest moment as a leader. During a time when dominating Australia at home was unthinkable, Smith’s men achieved this. Riding on hundreds from Smith and AB de Villiers, South Africa chased down 414 at Perth. South Africa then went on to win the Boxing Day Test at Melbourne. They ended up winning the series 2-1
12) Despite having won the series in Australia in 2008-09, Smith tried his level best to save the Sydney Test that Australia had dominated. Smith came out to bat with a broken hand in attempt to save the Test but was dismissed with only 10 balls remaining. This act of courage won him hearts of the otherwise ruthless Australian spectators. Smith received a standing ovation
13) Out of Smith’s 27 centuries in Test cricket, 15 came as a captain in Test match wins, the most number of centuries by a captain in wins
14) Graeme Smith is the fastest South African to reach 1000, 3000, 4000, 6000, and 7000 test runs
15) On 24 October 2013, Smith became the second South African and 12th overall to complete 9,000 runs in test cricket in his 112th test match
16) Graeme Smith also hit 105 in the Twenty-20 Cup match against Northamptonshire, which is currently the 15th highest score in the domestic Twenty-20 Cup competition
17) Graeme Smith led South Africa in 150 ODI matches, most by a South African captain
18) South Africa have not lost a Test when Smith has scored a hundred. And the remarkable fact is that he has scored 27 Test hundreds
19) Graeme Smith played 197 ODIs for his country scoring 6989 runs at an average of 37.98 with a career best of 141. Smith made 10 tons and 47 fifties
20) Graeme Smith played 117 matches scoring 9265 runs at an average of 48.25 with a career best of 277. Smith made 27 tons and 38 fifties
21) Graeme Smith played 33 T20Is scoring 982 runs at an average of 31.67 with a top score of 89 not out. Smith made 5 fifties in the shortest format
22) Smith also holds the world record of a non-wicketkeeper taking most catches (82) in test match wins
23) In August 2011, Smith got married to Irish singer Morgan Deane in Cape Town. They have a daughter, Candence Christine Smith and a son, Carter McMorrin Smith
24) Graeme Smith has played in IPL for Rajasthan Royals and Pune Warriors India. Smith has also represented Hampshire, Somerset and Surrey in English county cricket
25) During the second Test against Bangladesh at Chittagong in begun on 29 February 2008 Smith scored 232 and Neil McKenzie 226 put on a world record 415 for the first wicket.The partnership beat the previous first-wicket record of 413 which had been set in 1956 by Vinoo Mankad and Pankaj Roy
26) After South Africa lost to New Zealand in the quarter-finals of the 2011 World Cup, Graeme Smith resigned as ODI and Twenty20 captain. Smith was replaced by AB de Villiers.
1) Andrew John Strauss was born on 2 March, 1977 at Johannesburg, Transvaal Province, South Africa
2) Andrew Strauss was born in South Africa but relocated to England at the age of six, where Strauss started playing serious cricket and went on to playfor the country
3) Andrew Strauss is commonly known as Muppet, due to his resemblance with the muppet, a famous cartoon character. Other nicknames include Levi, Mareman, The Captain and Straussy
4) An average student with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree from Durham University, Strauss started playing cricket for the university team and soon made it to Middlesex second XI. The natural progression was to the Middlesex team, for which he started playing in 1998. By 2000, Strauss had become their opening batsman and by 2002, their full-time captain
5) Before Fame, Andrew Strauss was just the fourth batsman to score 100 at Lord's Cricket Ground on his debut
6) During his early career, Strauss spent several years in the cities of Sydney and Adelaide in Australia, and briefly played first-grade cricket alongside Australian bowler Brett Lee
7) Two back to back fruitful county seasons 1,133 and 1,401 First-class runs in 2002 and 2003 respectively saw him picked for the England ODI side to tour Bangladesh
8) Andrew Strauss made his Test debut against New Zealand at Lord’s in May 2004 and turned it into a memorable one as Strauss became only the fourth player and the first Middlesex captain to score a century at Lord’s in his maiden outing. Strauss missed the second innings hundred by a whisker, as he was run out on 83. Had Andrew completed his hundred, he could have become the first Englishman to score two hundreds on Test debut. Later, Andrew scored his maiden ODI hundred as well on the same ground against West Indies
9) Andrew Strauss has written several books on his professional career, Coming Into Play: My Life in Test Cricket (2006), Testing Times: In Pursuit of the Ashes 2010, with Scyld Berry, Winning the Ashes Down Under: The Captains Story (2011), and an autobiography, Driving Ambition, in 2014
10) Andrew Strauss was a part of the English team that won the historic Ashes England’s first in 18 years in 2005. His 106 in the third Test at Old Trafford and 129 in the fifth Test at the Oval ensured that England drew the matches and regain the urn
11) Andrew Strauss has the rare distinction of having his final Test match and his 100th Test coinciding. Strauss also achieved yet another rare feat when he became one of the players to play his debut and final Test at Lords. Strauss scored 20 & 1 in each inning as the visiting South Africans clinched a 51 run win. The match, however, was clouded by a text messaging scandal by Kevin Pietersen
12) Andrew Strauss managed to keep his place for the India tour and immediately rewarded the selectors by making 123 in the first innings of the first Test match with the rest of the batting lagging behind. Andrew followed it up by holding the batting order together after a collapse that saw England 43–3 and shared a 200 run partnership with Paul Collingwood in which Strauss and Collingwood both made 108. He became just the 10th Englishman to make two hundreds in the same Test match, with Marcus Trescothick being the last in 2004
13) England reached the top of the ICC Test rankings in the 2008/09 season for the first time in 31 years. This also included an impressive win in the 2009 edition of the Ashes series under the captaincy of Andrew Strauss
14) In January 2009, Strauss was officially appointed as England’s new Test captain, when Strauss succeeded Kevin Pietersen. In the 50 Tests where he led his team, England won 24, lost 11 and drew 15. Under his captaincy, England won the Ashes twice once each home and away. Another highlight of his captaincy was that England attained No. 1 spot in ICC Test rankings, for the first time in 31 years, during his tenure in the year 2011
15) Andrew Strauss is considered as the most successful England captain of his era. Strauss led the Brits into a golden age during his incumbency as captain. His most notable achievement came during the 2009 Ashes tour when he led his side to victory against a mighty Australian side. He captained England for the final 5 years of his career
16) Andrew Strauss married Ruth McDonald in 2003 and he has two sons, Luca and Sam. He grew up in England, with his family moving there when he was six
17) In 2012 he announced his retirement from the sport, with Alastair Cook taking over captaining duties
18) Andrew Strauss was named the Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 2005 on the back of his fantastic performance. Later, he was awarded the Member of the Order of the British Empire, which was subsequently upgraded when was promoted as the Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 2011. The same year, his alma mater, Durham University, conferred the honorary doctorate of DCL upon him
19) Andrew Strauss became the Director of Cricket for England cricket team in 2015, soon before the sacking of Peter Moores. His first assignment was to lead England out of a horrific World Cup campaign.
1) Steve Waugh was born on the 2nd of June 1965 at Canterbury, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, He was born about four minutes before Mark. As a result , Mark got the nickname ‘junior’.
2) Steve Waugh made his professional debut with the New South Wales team in the 1984-1985 season
3) The Waugh twins played cricket and football at a young age and managed to maintain a balance between the two. In Australia, you would find most sportsmen dabbling in different sports before choosing one as a career. The represented Sydney Croatia football team as youngsters before they shifted their focus to cricket
4) Steve Waugh came of age in the 1989 edition of the Ashes in England. The Aussies clinched the Ashes series 4-0 with the victory marking the end of the reconstruction of the Australian side. Waugh smashed two of his 32 centuries in the series as the Aussies under Allan Border, basked in glory
5) Cricket has seen a few pairs of twins, but the Waughs are the first ones to play Test cricket. The only other pair to play Test cricket are Hamish and James Marshall of New Zealand, who are identical twins, unlike Steve and Mark Waugh
6) In the 1990-91 Ashes Down Under,Steve Waugh was dropped from the Test team. The man who took his place in the side was his brother twin Mark Waugh, The younger Waugh celebrated the occasion by scoring a century on debut. However, later in 1991, Waugh returned to the Test team and remained a fixture ever since
7) Steve Waugh was named Australian of the Year in 2004 for his philanthropic work, and inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame in front of his home fans at the Sydney Cricket Ground in January 2010
8) Steve Waugh was a youngster in 1987 when Allan Border’s team went on to win the World Cup in India. Tom Moody, a young all-rounder from Western Australia, was also a part of the side. In 1999, Steve and Moody were the only two surviving members of the 1987 team that clinched the World Cup in England
9) There isn’t anything in cricket that Waugh hasn’t seen. Waugh has won and lost the Ashes, won and lost World Cups, beaten and has been beat by the West Indies. His experience classifies him as a ‘once in a lifetime cricketer’
10) In 1998, a strong Australia A side featuring Matthew Hayden, Michael Hussey, Damien Martyn, Andrew Symonds, Brendon Julian, Adam Dale, Jason Gillespie and Andrew Bichel played a few games against Ireland. Interestingly, Waugh played for Ireland in that series against some of his own international teammates. Waugh played one First-Class match and five limited-overs games. Waugh scored only one fifty
11) Steve Waugh took over the captaincy from Mark Taylor in 1999. His first assignment was the World Cup in England, a tournament which they won
12) In 1979, Andrew Hilditch became the first Australian and the second man in Test cricket to be out handled the ball. Steve Waugh entered the unwanted league when Steve deflected a ball away with his glove during the Chennai Test against India in 2001. In a reflex motion, he tried to steer the ball away with his gloves and the Indians appealed
13) Having made his debut against India at the MCG in 1985, Waugh called time on his international career against the Indians in 2004 the iconic Sydney Cricket Ground. Waugh was carried around the stadium, draped in the Australian flag as he did
14) Steve Waugh led the Australian team in its era of dominance and his record reflects that. Steve has the 1999 World Cup in his cabinet to show, but his 71.92 percent success rate in Test cricket as skipper is enviable. On that mark, Steve is ahead of Ricky Ponting, who won about 62 percent of his Tests as captain. Waugh captained Australia 57 times in Test cricket and won 41 of those encounters. To top it all, Australia had won 16 consecutive Tests during one of their successful runs
15) Steve Waugh finally retired at the end of the 2003-04 series against India, bowing out with 80, his last shot an untypical heave to backward square leg
16) Steve Waugh was known for his grit and fight through his career. Be it standing up to Curtly Ambrose or fashioning that famous knock against South Africa in the 1999 World Cup, his remarkable character came to the fore. In the Ashes 2001, Steve was injured in the third Test even as Australia won. Steve missed the fourth Test but stayed on to play the fifth despite being advised months of rest. Waugh’s wife asked him to stay on and lift the urn in England. Steve managed to get himself ready and smashed a ton in the fifth Test at The Oval. The picture of him diving to get his ton and raising his bat is one of the most iconic memories in recent times
17) The Waugh twins played their last One-Day International (ODI), First-Class game and List A game together. Both were dropped after the tri-series Down Under in 2002, where they played their last ODI against South Africa at Perth. In 2004, their last First-Class game came when New South Wales played Queensland a few days after their final List A appearance against Tasmania
18) Steve Waugh was awarded the Australian Sports Medal on 14 July 2000
19) On 3 February 2009 Steve Waugh became the 30th cricketer inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame.
1) Yuvraj's father Yograj Singh is a former Indian fast bowler and Punjabi movie actor.
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.
1) Muttiah Muralitharan was born in a Tamil family on the 17 April 1972 at Kandy, Sri Lanka.
2) Muttiah Muralitharan was the Bata Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year with St Anthony's College.
3) Muttiah Muralitharan finished with 430 wickets in wins from just 53 Tests, a staggering average of eight wickets per match
4) In terms of matches played, Muttiah Muralitharan is the fastest to 350, 400, 450, 500, 550, 600, 650 and 700 wickets, and trivially so for 750 and 800.
5) Muttiah Muralitharan retired from Test cricket in 2010, registering his 800th and final wicket on 22 July 2010 from his final ball in his last Test match.
6) Muttiah Muralitharan was the Wisden Leading Cricketer in the World in 2000 and 2006.
7) In his first Test series against the Australian , Murali proved to be much more than a handful for the bamboozled Australians. Muttiah Muralitharan executed the top-spinner to such perfection that a bamboozled Australian skipper Allan Border failed to pick it up.
8) Muttiah Muralitharan has a child named Naren with Madhimalar Ramamurthy.
9) Muttiah Muralitharan holds the world record for the most wickets in both test and one-day cricket.
10) John Howard, the Prime Minister of Australia began the mind games against the Lankans when he described Muttiah Muralitharan as a ‘chucker’ in 2004. Muttiah Muralitharan cited that he would sit out of future tours to Australia.
11) Muttiah Muralitharan and Glenn McGrath were both crowned as the Wisden Leading Cricketer in the World during their careers.
12) Muttiah Muralitharan took the wicket of Gautam Gambhir on 5 February 2009 in Colombo to surpass Wasim Akram 's ODI record of 502 wickets.
13) Muttiah Muralitharan became the highest wicket- taker in Test cricket when he overtook the previous record-holder Shane Warne on 3 December 2007.
14) Indian left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha became Muttiah Muralitharan’s 800 and final Test match wicket. Incidentally, Ojha’s was dismissed by Murali’s final delivery in Test cricket.
15) Muttiah Muralitharan became the highest wicket- taker in Test cricket when he overtook the previous record-holder Shane Warne on 3 December 2007.
16) Muttiah Muralitharan had previously held the record when he surpassed Courtney Walsh's 519 wickets in 2004, but he suffered a shoulder injury later that year and was overtaken by Warne.
17) The Warne Muralidharan Trophy is a tournament that is contested between Australia and Sri Lanka. It was unveiled in 2007. 18) One of Cricket’s greatest moments came in the 1998 tour of England. Muttiah Muralitharan picked up a mammoth 16 wickets in the match as the Lankans cruised to a 10-wicket win, their first Test win on English soil.
