"After 25 years, in and around 22 yards, and after almost 17 years of international cricket on and off, I have decided to move on. I am extremely lucky to play 400-plus games for India. I would never have imagined this when I started my career as a cricketer,"" he said in Mumbai.

Among the many honours that Yuvraj won in his international career, the most prominent ones were the 2011 World Cup at home and the 2007 World T20 in South Africa, both tournaments which were glittered with special contributions from the Punjab batsman. "The adrenaline rush, playing for India, singing the national anthem before each game, touching the Indian flag, stopping every run for the team, or scoring every run for the team, was a completely different high. To be part of history, that was made after 28 years [in 2011], I mean, honestly, what more could I ask for"? Yuvraj added.

He was chosen as the Man of the Match as many as four times and eventually awarded the Man of the Tournament for 362 runs at 90.50 - with four fifties and a hundred - and 15 wickets at 25.13, including a five-for against Ireland in the 2011 World Cup. Immediately after that, Yuvraj was diagnosed with mediastinal seminoma, a rare germ-cell tumour located between his two lungs. Following surgery and treatment in early 2012, he came back to the national side in December that year, but experienced varied returns ever since.

Five years earlier, when India had opted to send a young, inexperienced unit for the maiden T20 World Cup, Yuvraj stepped up to the occasion to guide an MS Dhoni-led side to the title. The biggest highlight of that tournament was smearing Stuart Broad for six sixes in an over in a must win Super Eight encounter at Durban, smashing a world record 12-ball half century in the process. In the semi-final against Australia, Yuvraj was at his best once again, smoking 70 off merely 30 balls, including five sixes.

"As I go back in time today, my life has been like a roller-coaster ride," Yuvraj expressed. "Winning the 2011 World Cup, being Man of the Series, four Man of the Match awards - was all like a dream - which was followed by a harsh reality, getting diagnosed with cancer. It was like touching the sky and then falling down at light speed and hitting the ground hard. All this happened so quickly, and that too when I was [at] the peak of my career. But in that moment, everyone to whom I mattered, stood together for me - my fans, my friends, my family".

In the end, Yuvraj leaves the field having smashed an ODI career-best 150 against England in 2017 before reminding the world of his power in a 32-ball 53 against Pakistan in the Champions Trophy five months later, playing for India in West Indies for one final time just after the global event.