What’s the story
Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh congratulated his Punjab and India teammate Yuvraj Singh who is set to reach the incredible feat of 300 ODIs in India’s encounter with Bangladesh in the Champions trophy semi-final today.
He expressed happiness for his “brother” in an emotional video he posted on twitter. The off-spinner spoke with warmth and affection about a bond that had started 20 years ago, and with amazement at how far the two of them had reached since they became friends. Zaheer Khan, who played several ODIs and Tests alongside Yuvraj, too, expressed his felicitations through his twitter handle.
In case you didn’t know
Harbhajan Singh and Yuvraj Singh played together for Punjab from an early age, and made their first class debuts for their state one year apart, and made their international debuts in 1998 and 2000. Their closely aligned careers saw them become good friends.
Zaheer Khan, who played alongside Yuvraj throughout the 2000s shares a close bond with the southpaw as well. Yuvraj’s 300th ODI comes after several setbacks in his career, and he labels himself “a fighter”. Not least of these setbacks was his fight against cancer in 2012. His 300th game comes at the age of 35 and he shows no sign of stopping.
The heart of the matter
Harbhajan’s most heartfelt remarks were when he spoke about how they never expected to play as many games as they had (100 tests for Harbhajan and 300 ODIs for Yuvraj) and wished his friend luck and hoped he would be awarded the man of the match award. Yuvraj’s 300th ODI has been met with great pride and honour from current and former players, media personnel, administrators and fans including Virender Sehwag, Irfan Pathan and Gaurav Kapur:
What’s next
For Yuvraj, whose entire career has been fighting against the odds for every game he has, there is no telling what is in store for the rest of his playing career. He may continue playing for at least a few more years and there is no doubt that he will make those years memorable for all his fans. His 300th game will be an important one, and focus will be taken away from the milestone due to the fact that it is a Champions Trophy semi-final.
Author’s take
It is fantastic that Yuvraj’s 300th ODI is being commemorated by the cricketing community as a whole because of Yuvraj’s struggle to keep his career going, despite the numerous adversities. His career is one of immense fight, courage and perseverance, and this milestone signifies just that. Yuvraj’s feats lie not in his batting averages, or the number of centuries he’s scored, but his ability to push through when the chips are down, and cricket will remember him for that.
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