Reuters
Mumbai, April 22: Once a limited-overs giant, Yuvraj Singh has been in and out of the Indian team in recent years but the all-rounder stated Friday that he still has enough cricket in him to look forward to the 2019 World Cup in England and Wales.
The 34-year-old left-handed batsman has seen it all in an international career that started as an 18-year-old in the 50-over ICC Knock-out Trophy in 2000.
He was crucial for India during their 2007 World Twenty20 victory in South Africa and was also player of the tournament in the team’s 50-over World Cup win on home soil in 2011.
“I think it’s the passion for the game,” Yuvraj said when asked what kept him going. “I don’t want to sit one day and think ‘Oh, I should have played a few more years’. I want to end where I feel this is it and this is how much I would have played. Given the opportunity, I still feel I have a few more years to excel.”
Many wrote Yuvraj off after the T20 Worlds final in Dhaka in 2014. But he again scored enough in the domestic circuit to earn a spot in the squad for the recent World T20. He injured his ankle in India’s final Super 10 match against Australia and was ruled out of the semifinal against West Indies.
“It was pretty disappointing,” Yuvraj said on the sidelines of a promotional event here. “You have an injury before the World Cup semifinal and I was preparing to play the World Cup for a while. So now the 50-over World Cup in 2019 would be a goal for me to achieve.”
