I did not watch cricket before meeting Yuvi: Hazel Keech

One of the greatest ODI players produced by India, Yuvraj Singh called time on his international career after a brilliant 17-year sojourn in cricket. The southpaw had impressed everyone in his first outing against Australia in ICC Knockout Trophy 2000, making 84 runs and since then enthralled everyone with his amazing strokeplay.

He was one of the mainstays of the Indian team in the 2000s and was very good for the national side in their 2007 World T20 win and was named Man of the Tournament in the 2011 World Cup where India became champions for the second time. “Only if I could articulate what cricket has done for me, to me! But let me tell you this, cricket has given me everything I have. It is the reason why I sit here today,” said Yuvraj during his retirement speech. He was accompanied by his mother Shabnam Singh and wife Hazel Keech.

Mother Shabnam says that Yuvraj’s decision to retire was his own  

Yuvraj Singh was coached by his father and former India cricketer Yograj Singh but lived with his mother Shabnam after his parents separated. She has played a huge role in Yuvraj’s development as a human being and as a cricketer as well.

Talking to NDTV, Shabnam Singh was quoted saying as “It was his decision to retire. Well, he has had a good career. He has won all the major tournaments, a very good accomplishment for him. He has done India proud. A mother can only stand in the back and appreciate his son.”

Furthermore, Yuvraj’s wife and actress Hazel Keech was also present during the press conference to support her husband in his decision. The two had married on November 30, 2016, and Keech has been seen in stadiums cheering for Yuvraj during IPL and Team India matches.

“As a wife, it is not my place to tell him what to do. He has my full support on the retirement decision. I did not watch cricket before meeting Yuvi. When Yuvi’s cricketing kit arrived in 2014, I saw him crying. I didn’t understand the emotion at that point. I guess only cricketers can understand how it is to get picked for the national team,” his wife Hazel Keech was quoted as saying.

Yuvraj Singh now has his eyes set at playing in foreign T20 leagues like the Global T20 Canada League and Euro T20 Slam. He played 304 ODIs, 58 T20Is and 40 Tests for India in an international career spanning from 2000-2017.