11 June,2019 07:24 AM IST | | Akshay Jagtap
Yuvraj Singh (left) with ex-India cricketer Reetinder Singh Sodhi
Yuvraj Singh's retirement came as a surprise to his fans. Ditto former India cricketer Reetinder Singh Sodhi. Hailing from the same state of Punjab, Sodhi and Yuvraj played a lot of cricket together since their childhood.
"He was optimistic about his comeback to the Indian team. He was fighting for it. I met him in the Maldives before this year's IPL but he didn't mention anything about retirement. Maybe, he thought this is the right time," Sodhi, 38, told mid-day yesterday.
The pundits hail Yuvraj's performance in the 2011 World Cup and the 2007 World T20 and rightly so, but it shouldn't be forgotten that Yuvraj also played a leading role in India's 2000 U-19 World Cup triumph in Sri Lanka where the southpaw was man of the series.
Sodhi, who was vice-captain of that U-19 team, said: "I remember we had a poor run-rate when we batted first against Australia in the semi-final [202-2 in 42.5 overs]. Yuvi was supposed to bat next at No. 4 and before going out he told me: 'Tu fikar mat kar, main chhaddanga nahi unhe [you don't worry. I won't spare them]'. He started playing aggressively from the word go. He smashed huge sixes and ball travelled a long distance when he was hitting those sixes. He had self belief and confidence and he carried these same qualities throughout his career." Sodhi figured in 18 ODIs for India.
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With the help of Yuvraj's 25-ball 58 which included five fours and five sixes against the attack comprising Shane Watson and Mitchell Johnson, India posted 284-6 before bundling out Australia for 114 in 34.5 overs to register a 170-run win.
"We had a small fight during that World Cup and when I bowled to him in the nets, he played some very aggressive shots. He has that sort of attitude - if you fight with him, he will cause you trouble with his game," Sodhi signed off.
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