I listen to speeches, I cry. I see rivals being nice to each other, I cry. Someone retires, I cry. Underdogs lose, I cry.

However, I can confidently say that I have never cried as much as I did, in this particular moment.

Indian captain MS Dhoni, who was magnificent on the night of the final, hit a 6 and India won the World Cup after 28 years, in 2011. 

What stays with me, just as much though, is the image of a screaming Yuvraj Singh rushing towards Mahi with arms open and eyes full of tears.

Of course he is overwhelmed, we just won the World Cup final. No, he was overwhelmed because we had just won the World Cup final AND he was probably coughing blood the night before.

And many nights before that. He was unable to breathe during practice sessions and sometimes vommitted on the field.

It was because Yuvraj had lung cancer.

You couldn’t tell, though, by the manner in which he played. I mean, he must have done some things right to win the Man of the Series award!

It’s just unimaginable that he gave the most prolific performance of his life while enduring the pain, merciless cancer brings with itself.

And that makes me think of people in romantic movies who ask each other, “Would you risk your life for love?”. Yuvraj can say yes. He can say yes without thinking twice.

Playing the entire tournament with cancer growing in his body, Yuvraj got to know about it only after history was created on the field.

And with that, every thing came crashing down. 

But trust this guy to bounce back, to not only fight a life-threatening disease but also come back to the nets in a matter of few years. 

In retrospect, that hardly comes as a surprise. 

Yuvraj never liked being challenged and when someone did, this is what happened.

Every since 2007, Stuart Broad gets a yearly reminder that he was hit for six 6s by Yuvraj Singh – and Andrew Flintoff, that he was the reason behind it.

There is 1.3 billion of us and we celebrate the anniversary of that over like a festival. 

We will not let them forget. 

And we won’t let the English side forget the Natwest final of 2002. 

How 21-year-old Mohammad Kaif and 20-year-old Yuvraj Singh braved all odds to win the match.  

How Dada swung his shirt from the Lord’s balcony.

How, again, Andrew Flintoff was the reason behind it.

When Yuvraj Singh was fighting cancer, a part of my heart kept saying that he will survive. 

Yuvraj was never the one to give up easily.

In fact, in the latter part of the last decade, as Sachin Tendulkar was nearing the end of his career, as the ‘Fab 4’ were retiring in succession – Yuvraj Singh became a symbol of hope as far as Indian batting was concerned.

Yuvraj hai abhi, ho jaayega.

Yuvraj aake run rate sambhaal lega.

Yuvraj ko laao, wo chakke maarega.

We knew that on his day, there was nothing Yuvraj Singh couldn’t do – and more often than not, he did not let us down.

Sadly, his retirement wasn’t as grand as it should have been, so we take this opportunity to thank him for giving us so many moments to cherish. Cricket lovers like me associate our childhoods with him and whether or not he is playing, our hearts will always say – Yuvraj ko laao, wo sambhaal lega.