Gautam Gambhir urges BCCI: Retire jersey number 12 as an honour to Yuvraj Singh

Former Indian cricketer turned politician Gautam Gambhir has asked the Board of Cotrol for Cricket in India (BCCI) to retire jersey No.12 as an honour to Yuvraj Singh.

Recently, Gautam Gambhir in his column mentioned that September always holds a special place in his heart as it was during this month twelve years ago that India had won it’s first World Cup since Kapil Dev attained the feat in 1983.

It was 24th September, 2007, team India stood victorious over arch foes Pakistan by five runs in the final of the first ever T20I World Cup under the captaincy of MS Dhoni. Gautam Gambhir went on to knock 75 runs off just 54 deliveries the highest in the match. Yuvraj Singh also created history during the same tournament as he hit six sixes in an over against England.

“The month of September, meanwhile, has special emotions for me. It was in this month in 2007 that we won the ICC T20 World Cup. The incredible Yuvraj Singh was in his elements. Just for the performance in that tournament and in the 2011 World Cup, I’d urge BCCI to retire the number 12 jersey that he wore. It will be a fitting tribute to a once-in-a-lifetime cricketer,” Gambhir wrote in his column.

Yuvraj Singh smashed 148 runs in five innings at a strike rate of 195 plus. The former left-handed opener himself knocked 227 runs in that particular T20 World Cup, and concluded as the highest run scorer behind Australia’s Matthew Hayden. “Overall, our win typified how ‘keeping-it-simple’ works. Perhaps playing the inaugural T20 World Cup worked for us,” Gambhir added.

He also went on to state that as a team they only approached one game at a time and did not care about how the rest of the tournament panned out.

“We didn’t know what was coming. Hence, rather than worrying about the future we concentrated on the next delivery. I remember asking my dear friend Yuvraj the secret of hitting those six sixes against England. Prince – as I call him fondly – said, “Gauti yaar buss ho gaya (it just happened), I never planned. What Yuvraj is saying is he kept it simple. He batted with a clear mind,” he further wrote in his column.