Former India batsman Yuvraj Singh has a wide fan following and he got to feel it while playing in Global T20 Canada. Canada has a good number of population from India and Yuvraj received huge support during the tournament.
Yuvraj talked about his reason to retire in a conversation with Gaurav Kapur. Cricket had started to take a toll on his mental health.
"When you are at a fast pace in life you don't realize a lot of things and suddenly you are like what has happened here and I am sitting here at home for 2-3 months, obviously for a different reason. I have got to a stage when cricket was not helping me mentally, I always wanted to play cricket but it was not helping me in a good state of mind. I was dragging myself and thinking 'when do I have to retire, should I retire, should I not retire, should I play for another season'.
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"I miss the game sometime but more often I do not miss it because I have played for so many years. I get so many messages for fans, so much love that I feel really blessed. More than anything the respect the game has given you, and if you are happy with that respect you have earned for the last 20 years I think it's the right time to move on. So, I think the day I retired I was free, it was a very emotional moment, I can't put that in word but certainly, I feel free after that, mentally very happy. I hadn't slept since many years and I tried to sleep really well," Yuvraj said.
Talking about the crowd support in Canada, he continued, "I have played some international leagues and had quite some fun. Played in Canada and first time playing in front of the Punjabi community. The Punjabi I learned from people in the stands in Canada, I think I learned more about Punjabi. Yes, Toronto is the biggest city in Punjab (jokingly), for a second I didn't feel like I was not in Punjab, just amazing."
Yuvraj was also part of the T10 tournament in Abu Dhabi, called 'Abu Dhabi T10 league'. He pulled his former teammate Zaheer Khan's legs and said the pacer can't field for more than 5 overs now.
"After that, we played T10 matches in Abu Dhabi. The age is getting slow and games are getting faster. I was like 'this format is very difficult'. in T20 you get at least 8-10 balls to settle but in T10 league there is pressure even after the first 2 dot ball, you have to swing your bat on the third ball. Zaheer Khan used to field 5 overs per match. He said I will field for 5 overs, I will bowl 2 overs but don't call me for batting. Once I dive on the field it doesn't take 2-4 guys to pick me up but it definitely takes 2-4 minutes to get back on my feet. It's the age brother. The mind is there but the body is not," Yuvraj added.
