It was first year of 21st century and the day was 7th October. The day which witnessed the fire and courage within a 18 year old kid who went on to win the World Cup for his Country while fighting through Cancer.
India was up against The World Cup Holder Australia, the team who looked almost invincible back then, in Quarter Final of ICC Knock Out trophy, 2000. A tournament which is now known as Champions Trophy.
Back then this tournament’s structure was very interesting. One bad game and one was out. You caught the next flight back from Nairobi. Like a Tennis tournament. How cool!
It was a special tournament for Team India. Not because they made into the final but because of the fact that team looked completely new, young and fresh on the paper with inclusion of players like Zaheer Khan and Yuvraj Singh after the dark and horrible match fixing scandal. And most importantly, it was the first multinational tournament for the newly appointed captain “Sourav Ganguly”.
It was a special tournament for me too. I was 10 then and this was the first tournament my memories are still very clear about. I did watch a few matches in 1999 world cup but memories of those moments became too fade to recall clearly.
We, my friends from my village and I, used to sit in front of a black and white TV and dance together if a boundary or wicket happened. The moment power was cut, we used to switch on the Radio to listen to the live commentary. Ah! Those were the days!
At the age of mere 18, Yuvraj Singh was selected for the national duty after exhilarating performance in under 19 world cup.
In his debut match, against Kenya, Yuvraj wasn't required to bat as India chased down the total with the help of top order batsmen. Though he did bowl in the match for 4 overs. He looked like this.
India v Australia, 7 October, 2000.
In the Quarter Final, Australia were the plain favorite, coming into the match as the World Cup champion. Indian team looked a team with not so much experience, while Australia team was filled with some extraordinary players.
Dada lost the toss and was asked to bat first by the Elite captain, Steve Waugh.
Tendulkar walked out in the middle with his regular partner Sourav Ganguly. Things weren't looking right for India as McGrath and Brett Lee kept them quiet for four overs.
And then, the onslaught of Master Blaster began.
Sachin came dancing down the wicket and smashed McGrath for a huge six back over his head. He executed a few same shots in the next couple of overs.
The best shot of the innings came in the 2nd delivery of the 7th over as Tendulkar shuffled across his stumps and hooked McCgrath straight over the long leg boundary.
Harsha Bhogle said on the air, 'ball would have gone outside Nairobi'.
The next boundary was his trademark straight drive against the fiery speedster Brett Lee.
Everything was going like a fairy tale as the Indian openers came out all guns blazing. Especially in the context of those days. Score was 66 for no loss in 11th over.
Then happened the worst nightmare for Indian fans during 90’s. Tendulkar's wicket.
A few elder relatives of mine, watching the match with me, got up and left the room. It was a pretty usual scenario in late 90’s.
As expected, things began falling apart after Sachin's wicket and India looked in a big trouble when Dravid fell in 19th over after having struggled to maintain the run rate. Score was 90 for 3 with run rate down to less than 5.
In walked a tall, lean 18 year old Yuvraj Singh. It was his second match but first foray to the crease.
Since the moment he took the guard, he hardly looked like a rookie. He was out there for the first time in his life, yet there was hardly a sign of nerve.
From the word go he stood tall in the middle.
McGrath ran like a monster but Yuvi dispatched him every single time he delievered it overpitched.
Yuvi pulled Brett Lee mercilessly who tried to aim his body with a few near-100-miles deliveries.
Gillespie was wristed away to the square leg fence, the stroke stamped with style and gifted with timing.
His elegant cover drives against seamers were a pleasure to eyes.
One such signature stroke, straight and sparkling, brought up his half-century as he galloped to his 50 off 46. His stroke-play was like an unexpected shock for Aussies. They seemed totally unprepared for him. Steve Waugh looked clueless while changing his bowlers to stop him.
The kid was the driver of the most of the part of Indian inning as the senior players like Kambli, Robin Singh, Vijay Dahiya and Agarkar couldn't make it big after a good start. Yuvi was unruffled by it all. His majestic drives continued even during the fall of wickets at the other end.
Australia finally managed to get rid off him in the 47th over when he top-edged an attempted pull off Shane Lee.
An inning of 84 runs off 80 balls included 12 fours of absolute mixture of arrogance and elegance.
McGrath finished wicketless and conceded 61 in 9 overs.
India finished with 265 for 9, remarkable in that the steady fall of wickets had not been able to check the flow of runs.
During the other half of the match, young India displayed a remarkable performance in the field. Wickets kept tumbling as Yuvraj showcased another talent of him. Firstly he took a blinder to dismiss Ian Harvey and then he pulled off this.
Michael Bevan wouldn't have dared to go for a run if he had known Yuvi before. Yuvraj sprinted forward, swooped down on the ball and sent in a return on the bounce to knock off the stump. Bevan was stunned and on the way to pavilion.
I think that was the particular moment which made Yuvraj a favorite of Dada.
Yuvraj Singh was out there with the mission of owning the arena and he did it quite brilliantly.
During the final stage of the match, Steve Waugh was on the verge of snatching the game from Indians as equation was 36 required off 32. But this time it was the other young man from India who had the final say. After Yuvi, it was Zak's turn to leave Steve Waugh clueless. He unleashed his yorker and Steve was sent packing.
The exuberance of youth had taken India to the semi-finals. Yuvraj was declared for the Man of the Match award.
A memorable triumph in a classic match, engineered by a champion player who emerged as one of the worst nightmares for bowlers and biggest match winner for Team India in the decade ahead.
Since that day, people stopped switching off their TV after Tendulkar's wicket. It was dawn of a new era.