Easier said “success and failure are part of sport and sportspersons,” but when failure hits, the statement becomes as good as just an adage, and contributions of the past fall prey to short memory.
What Yuvraj Singh experienced on the evening of April 2, 2011, and three years later on April 6, 2014, was noticeably aired around the word on Sunday. The elation from three years ago will hold a special place in Yuvraj’s career, but so will the sorrow of Sunday.
The larger-than-life Yuvraj scratched around with his willow in the ICC World Twenty20 final against Sri Lanka, robbing a settled partner of strike and costing India precious runs in the process, which proved one of the decisive factors in India’s six-wicket defeat to Sri Lanka.
And when our dejected hero needed an arm around his shoulder and support from his fans, stones were pelted at his home by some hooligans who forgot their ‘high fives’ at every six Yuvraj hit in the past decade.
Is the emotional attachment to heroes only restricted to times of success and illness? Such idiotic acts answer that question in the affirmative.
Since appearing on the scene with a bang in the 2000 ICC Champions Trophy against Australia, Yuvraj has been the source of many Indian victories. But the ‘six sixes’ man of 2007 and the 2011 World Cup Man of the Series was remembered for just one thing on Sunday – his 11 off 21 balls in India’s World T20 final defeat.
Careers begin and careers end – some on a high, some on low. But does one failure, albeit in a World final, belittle a player’s past service to the nation?
