2000 – Yuvraj Singh recalls a joke made by Ganguly during the ICC Knockout Tournament. Yuvraj Singh revealed that Ganguly had asked him if he could open the innings in all the important matches of the next day. According to Yuvraj, the 18-year-old was asked the question.
“If you want me to open it, I will open it,” was Yuvraj Singh’s answer to Dada’s question. Yuvraj says he did not sleep that night. But Ganguly himself opened the innings for India and scored 265 runs. Yuvraj Singh scored 84 runs in the match.
“I was fifth when I went down to bat. There was good tension. But my whole intention was to look at the ball and play. They lost my catch when I was 37 runs. Maybe I would have been much happier if I had been out for 37 that day. Because I was a direct bowling attack.
With luck I scored 84 runs. I do not know how. I looked at the ball and played. That was a big moment for me. He won the Man of the Match award by defeating Australia in his debut match, ”said Yuvraj.
Yuvraj then faced the bowling line-up of Brett Lee, McGrath and Gillespie.