Yuvraj Singh (born 12 December 1981) is an Indian cricketer, and the son of former Indian fast bowler and Punjabi movie star Yograj Singh. He has been a member of the Indian cricket team since 2000 (ODIs) and played his first Test match in 2003. He was the vice-captain of the ODI team from late-2007 to late-2008. At the 2007 World Twenty20 he hit six sixes in an over against England's Stuart Broad—a feat performed only three times previously in any form of senior cricket, and previously never in an international match between two Test cricket nations. He was named the Man of the Tournament in the 2011 Cricket World Cup.
Early career
Yuvraj first came to attention when he captained the Under-19 Punjab cricket team in the final of the Cooch-Behar Trophy against Bihar U-19s, in which he scored 358 at the Keenan Stadium in Jamshedpur.He then gained selection for the U-19 World Cup in Sri Lanka in January 2000, where he was part of a team led by Mohammed Kaif which won the tournament.Yuvraj was hero of the tournament. Yuvraj was subsequently selected in 2000 for the first intake of the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore.
Test career
Yuvraj made his Test debut against New Zealand in Mohali in late 2003 in front of his home crowd in Punjab due to the absence of regular captain Sourav Ganguly. He was omitted upon Ganguly's return but got another opportunity in the Test team in the 2004 Tour to Pakistan, when Ganguly was again injured. He scored his first Test century in a losing effort against Pakistan in the second Test at Lahore. When Ganguly returned for the third Test, Akash Chopra was dropped and it appeared that the Indian selectors wanted to give him a regular place in the team. He was subsequently played as Virender Sehwag's opening partner, but after two poor matches in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia, he was dropped in favour of Gautam Gambhir. He was recalled to the Test team, batting in the No. 6 position for the away series against Zimbabwe in August 2005 after Sachin Tendulkar was sidelined with tennis elbow. He then retained his position in the Test team after Ganguly was axed following a row with coach Greg Chappell. He scored a second Test century in the third and final Test in Pakistan in the series in January 2006, which India again lost. However, Yuvraj has struggled subsequently in 2006, failing to pass 50 in six Tests against England (two, both at home) and the West Indies (four, all away from home). His injury in late 2006 allowed the return of former captain Ganguly to the team, who subsequently top-scored in the series.
Yuvraj was included in India's Test squad to face Pakistan in November 2007, but was not included in the playing 11 for the first test. Yuvraj was picked in the 3rd Test due to an injured Sachin Tendulkar. India were 61/4 before he and Sourav Ganguly made a 300 run partnership with Yuvraj recording his highest Test score of 169. He had a very poor Test series against Australia when India toured in 2007–08. After his poor showing in the first two Tests he was dropped for the remainder of the series. Yuvraj scored 85 not out and put on an unbroken partnership of 163 with Sachin Tendulkar to defeat England in the First Test at Chennai on 15 December 2008. It was the fourth highest successful run chase in history and the highest in India.
Yuvraj has taken a number of important wickets with his left-arm spin. Two "soft" dismissals of Kevin Pietersen in 2008, led to controversy. Pietersen, then the England captain, "labelled Yuvraj a "pie-chucker" and suggested that he was a purveyor of "left-arm filth".
Twenty20 career
On 19 September 2007 against England in the ICC World Twenty20 Super 8 match held at Kingsmead in Durban, he hit 6 'SIXES' in an over up against Stuart Broad. This helped him to reach the fastest fifty ever in Twenty20 game, off just 12 balls and also the fastest in any form of international cricket. This was the fourth time that six sixes had been hit in one over in senior cricket, the first time in Twenty20 cricket, and the first time in any form of international cricket against a bowler from a Test playing nation. He has also hit the longest six of the tournament: 119 metres (390 ft) off of Australian bowler Brett Lee.Yuvraj was awarded a Porsche 911 for his 6 sixes achievement by the Vice President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Lalit Modi. Yuvraj also received Rs.10,000,000 (US$252,716) in cash from the BCCI for his performance in the tournament. He is also the first Indian player to cross 100 Sixes in Twenty 20 matches.
Yuvraj also scored 70 runs off 30 balls and went on to claim the Man of the Match against Australia in the World Twenty20 semifinals at Durban.
He was the icon player and captain for Indian Premier League (IPL) team Kings XI Punjab in the first two seasons; in 2010, the third season, icon player status was abolished and the captaincy given to Kumar Sangakkara. They came second in the round robin phase of the tournament, but lost their semi-final to the Chennai Super Kings. On 1 May 2009, Yuvraj picked up his first hat-trick in T20 cricket against Royal Challengers Bangalore at Kingsmead in Durban, the same ground where he hit his six sixes. He dismissed Robin Uthappa, Mark Boucher and Jacques Kallis. On 17 May 2009, Yuvraj picked up his second Twenty20 hat-trick against Deccan Chargers at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg. Yuvraj dismissedHerschelle Gibbs, Andrew Symonds and Venugopal Rao.
The Pune Warriors were a new team introduced for the 2011 IPL. Yuvraj Singh was bought by the team and chosen as captain.Pune Warriors finished ninth, ahead of only the Delhi Daredevils. From 14 matches, Yuvraj scored 343 runs at an average of 34.30, including two half-centuries. After much controversy BCCI has allowed Pune Warriors to have his replacement for 2012 Indian Premier League, citing his medical condition and nonavailability for 2012 IPL due to the same.
Style of Play
Yuvraj is primarily a left-handed batsman but can bowl part-time left-arm orthodox spin, which he improved in the latter part of his career. He is regarded as a better batsman against fast bowling than spin bowling, and cites the Indian Oil Cup 2005 as a turning point in his career.Yuvraj is one of the athletic fielders in the Indian team, fielding primarily at point & covers with a good aim at the stumps. Yuvraj is a natural strokeplayer with an aggressive style of play, as seen by his strike rate of above 150 in T20 internationals & just below 90 in ODIs. Many regard him as one of the best clean strikers of the ball, with his trademark punch through the covers as a treat to watch. When in good touch, he can clear the ropes quite effortlessly. A Cricinfo report published in late 2005 showed that since 1999, he was the fourth most prolific fielder in affecting ODI run outs, and of those on the list of prolific fielders, he had the second highest rate of effecting a run out. He was previously often characterised as having attitude problems,but later often assumed leadership positions during Rahul Dravid's tenure as captain.
Centuries
Test centuries
| Test Cricket Centuries of Yuvraj Singh | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Runs | Match | Against | City/Country | Venue | Year |
| 1 | 213 | 11 |  Pakistan | Lahore, Pakistan | Gaddafi Stadium | 2004 |
| 2 | 122 | 13 | Pakistan | Karachi, Pakistan | National Stadium, Karachi | 2006 |
| 3 | 169 | 20 | Pakistan | Bangalore, India | M.Chinnaswamy Stadium | 2007 |
ODI centuries
| ODI Cricket Centuries of Yuvraj Singh | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Runs | ball | Against | City/Country | Venue | Year | Result |
| 1 | 102 | 71 |  Bangladesh | Dhaka, Bangladesh | Shere Bangla National Stadium | 2003 | |
| 2 | 139 | 122 |  Australia | Sydney, Australia | Sydney Cricket Ground | 2004 | |
| 3 | 110 | 114 |  West Indies | Colombo, Sri Lanka | R Premadasa Stadium | 2005 | |
| 4 | 120 | 124 |  Zimbabwe | Harare, Zimbabwe | Harare Sports Club | 2005 | |
| 5 | 103 | 122 |  South Africa | Hyderabad, India | Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium | 2005 | |
| 6 | 107* | 93 | Pakistan | Karachi, Pakistan | National Stadium, Karachi | 2006 | |
| 7 | 103 | 76 |  England | Margao, India | Nehru Stadium, Fatorda, Margao | 2006 | |
| 8 | 121 | 115 | Australia | Hyderabad, India | Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium | 2007 | |
| 9 | 138* | 78 | England | Rajkot, India | Madhavrao Scindia Cricket Ground | 2008 | |
| 10 | 118 | 122 | England | Indore, India | Maharani Usharaje Trust Cricket | 2008 | |
| 11 | 117 | 95 |  Sri Lanka | Colombo, Sri Lanka | R Premadasa Stadium | 2009 | |
| 12 | 131 | 102 | West Indies | Kingston, Jamaica | Sabina Park | 2009 | |
| 13 | 113 | 123 | West Indies | Chennai, India | MA Chidambaram Stadium | 2011 | |
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