On This Day: “Ferocious” Yuvraj Singh Tames Australia For India’s First Win. Watch

On this day in 2011, Yuvraj Singh’s all-round heroics saw India beat Australia in the quarterfinals of the ODI World Cup in Ahmedabad. Yuvraj took two crucial wickets and slammed an unbeaten 57 as India edged out Australia to set up a semi-final clash with arch-rivals Pakistan. Chasing a target of 261, India were at a precarious 187 for five when Yuvraj and Suresh Raina set up a match-winning partnership of 74 runs in 61 balls.

57* runs
65 balls
8 fours#OnThisDay in 2011, a ferocious Yuvraj Singh took India to a five-wicket win against Australia in the @cricketworldcup quarter-final!

This was their first #CWC win over Australia in 24 years pic.twitter.com/7Qejhqr5fM

— ICC (@ICC) March 24, 2020

The World Cup 2011 turned into the biggest act, a dream tournament for Yuvraj. He scored 362 runs in nine matches at a staggering average of 90.50 with one century and four half-centuries.

He also impressed with the ball, claiming 15 wickets in the tournament including two in the final played at the Wankhede as India scripted an emphatic victory in the final clash and lifted the World Cup after a gap of 28 years. He was named Player of the Tournament.

Yuvraj, who announced his retirement in 2019, played 40 Tests, 111 One-day Internationals (ODI) and 58 T20 Internationals (T20I) for India.

Yuvraj also was a role model as he fought off cancer to come back into international cricket, and also a star of the Indian Premier League, representing several franchises and scoring heavily during his heydays.

He came into the India One-day International (ODI) fold in October 2000 in the ICC knockout tournament in Nairobi.

He made his Test debut at his home turf of Mohali against New Zealand in October 2003 and then he went on to become a part of the Indian T20 International squad in the ICC World T20 in 2007, against Scotland at Durban in September 2007.