I had also removed my shirt in NatWest final, but no one recognized: Yuvraj Singh

India registered some memorable victories in the early 2000s under Sourav Ganguly‘s captaincy. If 2001 Kolkata Test was one of the best comeback wins for the team in the longer format, the NatWest final win at Lord’s the next year is also ranked among the top victories. More than anything, the game is remembered for the team’s exceptional comeback in the chase and Ganguly’s celebration after the match.

The then Indian skipper was absolutely pumped up after the win and had removed his jersey and the world had reacted over his actions. Interestingly, recalling the historic victory, the former India cricketer Yuvraj Singh who had played a crucial role in the steep chase has revealed that he had also removed his shirt after winning the game but nobody recognised it.

Yuvi mentioned that he had worn another shirt underneath which is the reason not many know about it. “I had removed my shirt but I was wearing another t-shirt underneath because it was cold in England. Nobody noticed it so I was saved,” he said in a live Instagram session with India Today.

The southpaw had come in to bat at 132/4 after the fall of Rahul Dravid’s wicket and soon things turned worse with Sachin Tendulkar getting out with the team’s score only 146 after 24 overs.

If I had used little brain, I would’ve scored a hundred, says Yuvraj Singh

Yuvraj and Mohammad Kaif then joined hands to stitch a scintillating partnership of 121 runs and despie the former getting out, Kaif carried on to score a century and lead India to a historic victory. Yuvraj Singh also called it the best knock of Kaif’s career and also said that England had celebrated as if they had won the match after Tendulkar won the match.

The 38-year-old also conceded that the confidence of the team was down after England posted 325 runs on the board. To make things worse, India’s record in the finals wasn’t great back then too. “We were pretty down after England made 325. Back then targets like that used to be very difficult to chase. We got a good start but when Sachin Tendulkar got out I remember England players started celebrating like they had won the match.

“Almost 50% of the crowd had also left, mostly Indians. Then came Mohammad Kaif, we both said ‘haan khelenge’ (we will play). We ran between the wickets really well because we had played Under-19 cricket. We were hitting the ball really well, I was a bit more attacking of the two.

“After I got out, Kaif took over. It was probably the best knock of his career. One of my best knocks as well. If I had a little more brain back then, I would have scored a hundred,” Yuvraj further added.