Shanthakumaran Sreesanth

Personal information
Full name	Sreesanth
Born	(1983-02-06) 6 February 1983 (age 29) Kothamangalam, Kerala, India
Nickname	Sree, Gopu
Height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Batting style	Right-handed
Bowling style	Right-arm fast-medium
Role	Bowler
International information
National side	India
Test debut (cap 253)	1 March 2006 v England
Last Test	13 August 2011 v England
ODI debut (cap 162)	25 October 2005 v Sri Lanka
Last ODI	2 April 2011 v Sri Lanka
Domestic team information
Years	Team
2002–present	Kerala
2008-2010	Kings XI Punjab
2009	Warwickshire
2011–present	Kochi Tuskers Kerala
Career statistics
Competition	Tests	ODI	FC	List A
Matches	26	53	67	82
Runs scored	275	44	586	127
Batting average	11.00	4.00	9.45	6.04
100s/50s	0/0	0/0	0/0	0/0
Top score	35	10*	35	33
Balls bowled	5,245	2,476	12,024	3,874
Wickets	84	75	197	104
Bowling average	37.47	33.44	35.57	35.48
5 wickets in innings	3	1	6	1
10 wickets in match	0	0	0	0
Best bowling	5/40	6/55	5/40	6/55
Catches/stumpings	5/–	7/–	14/–	9/–
Source: Cricinfo, 19 August 2011

Shanthakumaran Sreesanth (Malayalam: ശ്രീശാന്ത്‌)  pronunciation (help·info) (born February 6, 1983 in Kothamangalam, Kerala, India), is an Indian cricketer. He is a right-arm fast-medium-pace bowler and a right-handed tail-ender batsman. In first class cricket, he plays for Kerala and in the Indian Premier League, he plays for Rajasthan Royals. In the past, he has represented Kochi Tuskers Kerala and Kings XI Punjab. He is the first Kerala Ranji player to play Twenty20 cricket for India.

Sreesanth was a national breakdancing champion when he was in eighth grade.^[1]

Early years[link]

Sreesanth was born to Shanthakumaran Nair and Savithri Devi. He has one elder brother and a sister.^[2] His brother Dipu Santhan owns a music company in Kochi and his sister Nivedita is a television actress in Kerala. His brother in law, Madhu Balakrishnan is a famous South Indian playback singer. Sreesanth is Hindu Brahmin.^[3]

Sreesanth initially was a leg-spinner in his childhood, modelling his action on India's leading Test wicket-taker Anil Kumble, who was to become his Test captain. However, his habit of bowling yorkers led him to convert to fast bowling, after being encouraged by his elder brother.^[4] Following in the footsteps of fellow Kerala fast bowler Tinu Yohannan, who earned selection to the National Cricket Academy in 2000, Sreesanth was selected for the MRF Pace foundation in Chennai. He then made his first-class debut against Goa in the 2002-03 domestic season, claiming 22 wickets in seven matches in the Ranji Trophy^[5] and winning selection for South Zone in the Duleep Trophy squad in the same season.^[6]

He was selected for India-A side in a tour match against the visiting New Zealand side at Rajkot. He claimed one wicket in twelve overs after being restricted with a hamstring injury. He also missed five Ranji Trophy games in that season, although he still travelled with the side for away games. This led to rumours that an astrologer convinced him to take a break from competition to preserve his longevity in the sport, which Sreesanth categorically denied, maintaining that he was training only to regain his fitness.^[4]

In November 2004, Sreesanth entered the record books when he took a hat-trick against Himachal Pradesh in a Ranji trophy game.^{[citation needed]} He was selected to represent India B in the Challenger Trophy in October 2005, a domestic limited-overs tournament.^[7] He performed impressively in that tournament, earning the Man of the Series award and being the leading wicket taker (7) with the third best bowling average.^[8] This led to his selection to Indian team for the home ODI series against Sri Lanka.^[9]

ODI career[link]

Sreesanth was given the new ball^[10] in the first ODI against Sri Lanka in Nagpur. After being punished early by Kumar Sangakkara and Sanath Jayasuriya, Sreesanth returned to claim his first two ODI wickets at the end of the match.^[11] He was left out of the team and was later recalled for the fourth, fifth and sixth ODIs as coach Greg Chappell tinkered with the line-up. He was retained in the squad^[12] but did not play in the 5 match series against South Africa, but played all five matches in the tour to Pakistan, recording a haul of 4/58 in the fifth ODI against Pakistani cricket team in Karachi. A good home series against the England in April 2006, in which he claimed 10 wickets at an average of 16.3, including a career best 6/55 in the final match at Indore (in which he was awarded the man of the match award [1]),^[13] led to him subsequently being awarded a BCCI contract, in the C-grade in May.^[14]

His disappointing economy rate led him to be left out of the ICC Champions Trophy squad of 14, with the beneficiary being R. P. Singh. He made an unexpected come back to the blue squad due to the injury to Ajit Agarkar later in the tournament. He was also out of the Indian ODI team for the England tour.

Inn 2011 Cricket World Cup, Sreesanth was selected due to injury to Praveen Kumar. He was expensive in the first game going wicketless at 53 runs in 5 overs. he was selected in the final where he gave away 52 runs for 8 wicketless overs.

Test career[link]

Sreesanth bowling in the nets.

Sreesanth was selected for his first Test squad in the home series against England in March 2006, in place of Zaheer Khan. He claimed 4/95 in his debut appearance in the 1st Test in Nagpur, where he opened the bowling with Irfan Pathan.^[15] He was ruled out of the second Test in Mohali due to illness, but recovered and captured five wickets as well a 29* with the bat in the Third Test in Mumbai. With the axing of Pathan, Sreesanth became India's leading pace bowler on the tour of the West Indies. He missed the second Test due to an injury but managed to claim his best match figures of 5/72 in the 4th Test in Kingston, Jamaica.^[16]

Sreesanth's most significant performance to date in Test cricket was his role in the first Test of India's 2006 tour to South Africa at Johannesburg. After losing the limited-overs series 4-0, Sreesanth produced took 5-40 in a display of pace and swing to help dismiss South Africa. This performance helped to bowl South Africans out for just 84, leading to first Indian win on South African soil, for which he was named man of the match. Again, Sreesanth's emotional antics, which have led him to be regarded by some commentators as eccentric, were frequently noted. He was fined after breaching the International Cricket Council's advertising logo policy, and also for "conduct contrary to the spirit of the game" after sending off Hashim Amla after dismissing him.^[17] He was also involved in a highly-publicised confrontation while batting against paceman André Nel. Nel delivered a series of fast balls at Sreesanth's upper body and after Sreesanth ungainly evaded one delivery, taunted him by gesturing to his chest, indicating that he felt Sreesanth was lacking in courage. On the next ball, Sreesanth gave him the charge and hit the ball straight over the bowler's head into the stands for a six. He then whirled his bat in enthusiasm and danced down the wicket, making fun of Nel and performing a dance.^[18][19] Later, Sreesanth said that he would not repeat anything of the sort, since he could be suspended for violating the code of conduct.^[20] Even though he went unpunished for the Nel incident, he was fined 30% of the match fee for running towards Hashim Amla after picking up his wicket, and wearing a branded garment under the jersey.

Sreesanth courted controversy once again during the fourth day of the second test of India's 2007 tour to England at Trent Bridge. He was fined half of his match fee for deliberately shoulder barging England captain Michael Vaughan whilst walking back to his mark. He also bowled a beamer at batsman Kevin Pietersen, which the latter had to take drastic action to avoid. Sreesanth however did immediately apologise afterwards. After the match he said that the ball had slipped from his hand. Soon afterwards, he bowled a no-ball where he overstepped the crease by roughly 2 feet (0.61 m), leading to speculation it was deliberate; the delivery was a bouncer to Paul Collingwood. Former England captain Michael Atherton called for Sreesanth to be banned for the Pietersen beamer, saying that Sreesanth could not control his on-pitch emotions.[2] [3]

After leaving out of the Indian team for about a year and half, Sreesanth was called back to play the home Test series against Sri Lanka in November 2009. Sreesanth played the second Test in Kanpur and picked up five wickets in the first innings, which helped India win the match by an innings and 144 runs.^[21] Sreesath was awarded the Man of the Match for taking six wickets in the match.^[22] After the match, Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni praised him as one of the best bowlers of reverse swing.^[23]

World Twenty20 Championship, 2007[link]

In September 2007, Sreesanth joined the Indian team in South Africa for the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup following his omission for the one-day series in England. Although his performance in the tournament lacked consistency, Sreesanth managed breakthroughs at critical junctures that were vital to his team's success. During the semifinal match against Australia which India won, Sreesanth got the vital wickets of the Australian openers Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden. The latter proved to be decisive in turning the match round in India's favour. In the final against Pakistan, Sreesanth proved expensive with the ball, but became the centre of Indian celebrations as he held on to the catch in the last over that ended Pakistan's innings and made India World Twenty20 champions.

Indian Premier League[link]

Sreesanth is associated with the Kings XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League. In the inaugural edition of the IPL in 2008, Sreesanth became the second leading wicket taker in the tournament after Sohail Tanveer, claiming 18 wickets. Sreesanth appeared only in the second half of the 2009 edition of the IPL. He could not play the initial matches of the season owing to a stress fracture. He left Kings XI Punjab after the 2010 Indian Premier League and signed for Kochi for the 2011 competition.

Altercation with Harbhajan Singh[link]

Harbhajan Singh

On April 25, 2008, following the victory of his Kings XI Punjab's victory in the Indian Premier League over the Mumbai Indians at Mohali, Sreesanth was slapped under his eye by Harbhajan Singh, the captain of Mumbai. The incident came to light as Sreesanth was caught by TV cameras sobbing inconsolably on the field before the presentation ceremony. Sreesanth later downplayed the incident saying he had no complaints against Harbhajan who was "like an elder brother" to him. Harbhajan's team had lost their third consecutive match when he apparently reacted violently to Sreesanth's approaching him and saying "hard luck". The IPL banned Harbhajan from the remainder of the tournament and prohibited him from collecting his salary after finding him guilty. The BCCI launched a separate investigation into the incident and decided to ban Harbhajan for five ODIs, deeming him to have broken the code of conduct in his national contract.^{[24][25][26][27]}

In Australia earlier that year, Sreesanth stated that he would maintain an aggressive attitude on the cricket field, "Sreesanth's way is to be aggressive. Sreesanth will always remain Sreesanth."^[28]

Warwickshire[link]

In August 2009, Sreesanth signed a deal to play for Warwickshire for the remainder of the English season.

Official warnings[link]

Sreesanth is noted for his exuberant and emotional behaviour, especially whilst appealing for and celebrating wickets. Such trademark behaviour has seen him frequently fined for violating the player conduct guidelines of the International Cricket Council. In October 2009, the BCCI and Kerala Cricket Association issued separate warnings to Sreesanth for indiscipline, failure of which could invite drastic actions such as ban from domestic cricket.^[29]

He has been warned several times for indiscipline both on and off the cricket field. The BCCI issued a final warning to Sreesanth in October 2009, to mend his on-field behaviour, failure of which would invite a suspension from domestic matches.^[30] Following this, the Kerala Cricket Association also issued him a final warning for repeatedly violating code of conduct.^[31] This was after Sreesanth failed to turn up at the Kerala Ranji Trophy team camp in Kannur.

However, Sreesanth was recalled to the Indian squad for the first two Test matches against Sri Lanka in the following month. He got the selection after being out of the national team for more than a year and half.^[32] He replaced Ishant Sharma for the second Test in Kanpur and his bowling became instrumental in helping India win the Test match by an innings and 144 runs. Sreesanth's five wicket haul in the first innings of the match earned him the Man of the Match award also.^[22]

The name Sreesanth[link]

Correct name[link]

In the English-language media, Sreesanth's full name has been the source of some confusion. He has been variously referred to as "Sree Sreesanth",^[33] "Sri Sreesanth",^[34] "Shantha Sreesanth".^[35] and "Shanthakumaran Sreesanth".^[36] He has also stated in the past that he wished to be known as "Sree Santh".^[37] In September 2007, Sreesanth said that his name was just "Sreesanth" and that the other variations were incorrect:

"It's Sreesanth. There is no Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, there is no S. Sreesanth. There was this function recently where they called me Sree Sreesanth, then Sree, and finally S Sreesanth. It's just Sreesanth."^[38]

Decision and cancellation of name change[link]

When his form slumped in 2006, Sreesanth had tried to change his luck by changing his name to Sreesunth, on numerological advice. He later stated that he was not going to change the name due to sentimental reasons. The word 'santh' in his name is derived from his father's name Santhakumaran Nair.^[39]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Sreesanth

• CricInfo Player Profile : Sreesanth
• Cricket Archive Player Profile : Sreesanth
• Sreesanth on Twitter

v t e India squad – 2006 ICC Champions Trophy 1 Dravid 2 Tendulkar 3 Agarkar 4 Dhoni 5 Harbhajan Singh 6 Kaif 7 Mongia 8 Patel 9 Pathan 10 Powar 11 Raina 12 Sehwag 13 R. P. Singh 14 Sreesanth 15 Yuvraj Singh Coach: G Chappell

v t e India squad – 2007 Cricket World Cup 3 Harbhajan 7 Dhoni 10 Tendulkar 12 Yuvraj 13 Munaf 19 Dravid (c) 21 Ganguly 27 Uthappa 34 Zaheer 36 Sreesanth 37 Kumble 44 Sehwag 56 Pathan 68 Agarkar 99 Karthik Coach: Chappell

v t e India squad – 2007 ICC World Twenty20 (1st Title) 1 Harbhajan 2 Dhoni(c) 3 R Sharma 4 Yuvraj 5 Joginder 6 YK Pathan 7 Gambhir 8 Uthappa 9 R. P. Singh 10 Sreesanth 11 Chawla 44 Sehwag 12 IK Pathan 13 Agarkar 14 Karthik Coach: Rajput

v t e India squad – 2011 Cricket World Cup (2nd Title) 3 Harbhajan 5 Gambhir 7 Dhoni (c & wk) 10 Tendulkar 11 Chawla 12 Yuvraj 13 Munaf 18 Kohli 28 Yusuf 34 Zaheer 36 Sreesanth 44 Sehwag 48 Raina 64 Nehra 66 Ashwin Coach: Kirsten Praveen Kumar was injured and replaced by Sreesanth.

Yuvraj Singh

Personal information
Born	(1981-12-12) 12 December 1981 (age 30) Chandigarh, India
Nickname	Yuvi
Height	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Batting style	Left-handed
Bowling style	Slow left arm orthodox
Role	Batting All-rounder
Relations	Yograj Singh (father)
International information
National side	India
Test debut (cap 247)	16 October 2003 v New Zealand
Last Test	14 Nov 2011 v West Indies
ODI debut (cap 134)	3 October 2000 v Kenya
Last ODI	2 April 2011 v Sri Lanka
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1996–	Punjab
2003	Yorkshire
2008–2010	Kings XI Punjab
2011	Pune Warriors
Career statistics
Competition	Test	ODIs	FC	List A
Matches	35	274	97	344
Runs scored	1,709	8,051	6,114	1,0236
Batting average	35.60	37.62	44.62	38.05
100s/50s	3/10	13/49	18/30	17/62
Top score	169	139	209	172
Balls bowled	823	4,832	2,113	5,901
Wickets	9	109	21	143
Bowling average	53.66	37.24	57.66	34.51
5 wickets in innings	0	1	0	1
10 wickets in match	0	0	0	0
Best bowling	2/9	2-09	3/25	5/31
Catches/stumpings	31/–	84/–	93/–	106/–
Source: Cricinfo, 16 August 2011

Yuvraj Singh  pronunciation (help·info) (born 12 December 1981) is an Indian cricketer, and the son of former Indian fast bowler and Punjabi movie star Yograj Singh.^[1] He has been a member of the Indian cricket team since 2000 (ODIs) and played his first Test match in 2003. He was the vice-captain of the ODI team from late-2007 to late-2008. At the 2007 World Twenty20 he hit six sixes in an over against England's Stuart Broad—a feat performed only three times previously in any form of senior cricket, and previously never in an international match between two Test cricket nations. He was named the Man of the Tournament in the 2011 Cricket World Cup.

He was recently diagnosed with a cancerous tumor (Stage-I) in his left lung and underwent chemotherapy treatment at the Cancer Research Institute in Boston, USA.^[2][3] On March 18, 2012 Yuvraj Singh discharged from hospital after completing the third and final cycle of chemotherapy to recover from a rare germ cell cancer in Boston, USA.^[4] On April 9, 2012 Yuvraj Singh returned home after undergoing treatment for rare germ cell cancer in the United States.^[5]

Early career[link]

Yuvraj first came to attention when he captained the Under-19 Punjab cricket team in the final of the Cooch-Behar Trophy against Bihar U-19s, in which he scored 358 at the Keenan Stadium in Jamshedpur.^[6] He then gained selection for the U-19 World Cup in Sri Lanka in January 2000, where he was part of a team led by Mohammed Kaif which won the tournament.^[7]Yuvraj was hero of the tournament. Yuvraj was subsequently selected in 2000 for the first intake of the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore.^[8]

Test career[link]

An innings-by-innings breakdown of Yuvraj's Test match batting career up to February 2008, showing runs scored (red bars) and the average of the last ten innings (blue line).

Yuvraj made his Test debut against New Zealand in Mohali in late 2003 in front of his home crowd in Punjab due to the absence of regular captain Sourav Ganguly.^[9] He was omitted upon Ganguly's return but got another opportunity in the Test team in the 2004 Tour to Pakistan, when Ganguly was again injured. He scored his first Test century in a losing effort against Pakistan in the second Test at Lahore. When Ganguly returned for the third Test, Akash Chopra was dropped and it appeared that the Indian selectors wanted to give him a regular place in the team. He was subsequently played as Virender Sehwag's opening partner, but after two poor matches in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia,^[10] he was dropped in favour of Gautam Gambhir. He was recalled to the Test team, batting in the No. 6 position for the away series against Zimbabwe in August 2005 after Sachin Tendulkar was sidelined with tennis elbow. He then retained his position in the Test team after Ganguly was axed following a row with coach Greg Chappell. He scored a second Test century in the third and final Test in Pakistan in the series in January 2006, which India again lost. However, Yuvraj has struggled subsequently in 2006, failing to pass 50 in six Tests against England (two, both at home) and the West Indies (four, all away from home). His injury in late 2006 allowed the return of former captain Ganguly to the team, who subsequently top-scored in the series.

Yuvraj was included in India's Test squad to face Pakistan in November 2007, but was not included in the playing 11 for the first test. Yuvraj was picked in the 3rd Test due to an injured Sachin Tendulkar. India were 61/4 before he and Sourav Ganguly made a 300 run partnership with Yuvraj recording his highest Test score of 169. He had a very poor Test series against Australia when India toured in 2007–08. After his poor showing in the first two Tests he was dropped for the remainder of the series. Yuvraj scored 85 not out and put on an unbroken partnership of 163 with Sachin Tendulkar to defeat England in the First Test at Chennai on 15 December 2008. It was the fourth highest successful run chase in history and the highest in India.

Yuvraj has taken a number of important wickets with his left-arm spin. Two "soft" dismissals of Kevin Pietersen in 2008, led to controversy. Pietersen, then the England captain, "labelled Yuvraj a "pie-chucker" and suggested that he was a purveyor of "left-arm filth".^[11]

Twenty20 career[link]

On 19 September 2007 against England in the ICC World Twenty20 Super 8 match held at Kingsmead in Durban, he hit 6 'SIXES' in an over up against Stuart Broad. This helped him to reach the fastest fifty ever in Twenty20 game, off just 12 balls and also the fastest in any form of international cricket.^[12][13][14] This was the fourth time that six sixes had been hit in one over in senior cricket, the first time in Twenty20 cricket, and the first time in any form of international cricket against a bowler from a Test playing nation. He has also hit the longest six of the tournament: 119 metres (390 ft) off of Australian bowler Brett Lee.^{[citation needed]} Yuvraj was awarded a Porsche 911 for his 6 sixes achievement by the Vice President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Lalit Modi. Yuvraj also received Rs.10,000,000 (US$252,716) in cash from the BCCI for his performance in the tournament.^[15] He is also the first Indian player to cross 100 Sixes in Twenty 20 matches.

Yuvraj also scored 70 runs off 30 balls and went on to claim the Man of the Match against Australia in the World Twenty20 semifinals at Durban.^[16]

He was the icon player and captain for Indian Premier League (IPL) team Kings XI Punjab in the first two seasons; in 2010, the third season, icon player status was abolished and the captaincy given to Kumar Sangakkara. They came second in the round robin phase of the tournament, but lost their semi-final to the Chennai Super Kings. On 1 May 2009, Yuvraj picked up his first hat-trick in T20 cricket against Royal Challengers Bangalore at Kingsmead in Durban, the same ground where he hit his six sixes. He dismissed Robin Uthappa, Mark Boucher and Jacques Kallis. On 17 May 2009, Yuvraj picked up his second Twenty20 hat-trick against Deccan Chargers at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg. Yuvraj dismissed Herschelle Gibbs, Andrew Symonds and Venugopal Rao.

The Pune Warriors were a new team introduced for the 2011 IPL. Yuvraj Singh was bought by the team and chosen as captain.^[17] Pune Warriors finished ninth, ahead of only the Delhi Daredevils.^[18] From 14 matches, Yuvraj scored 343 runs at an average of 34.30, including two half-centuries.^[19] After much controversy BCCI has allowed Pune Warriors to have his replacement for 2012 Indian Premier League, citing his medical condition and nonavailability for 2012 IPL due to the same.^[20]

Style of Play[link]

Yuvraj during fielding practice.

Yuvraj is primarily a left-handed batsman but can bowl part-time left-arm orthodox spin, which he improved in the latter part of his career. He is regarded as a better batsman against fast bowling than spin bowling, and cites the Indian Oil Cup 2005 as a turning point in his career.^[21] Yuvraj is one of the athletic fielders in the Indian team, fielding primarily at point & covers with a good aim at the stumps. Yuvraj is a natural strokeplayer with an aggressive style of play, as seen by his strike rate of above 150 in T20 internationals & just below 90 in ODIs. Many regard him as one of the best clean strikers of the ball, with his trademark punch through the covers as a treat to watch. When in good touch, he can clear the ropes quite effortlessly. A Cricinfo report published in late 2005 showed that since 1999, he was the fourth most prolific fielder in affecting ODI run outs, and of those on the list of prolific fielders, he had the second highest rate of effecting a run out.^[22] He was previously often characterised as having attitude problems,^[23] but later often assumed leadership positions during Rahul Dravid's tenure as captain.

Centuries[link]

Test centuries[link]

Test Cricket Centuries of Yuvraj Singh
#	Runs	Match	Against	City/Country	Venue	Year
1	112	11	Pakistan	Lahore, Pakistan	Gaddafi Stadium	2004
2	122	13	Pakistan	Karachi, Pakistan	National Stadium, Karachi	2006
3	169	20	Pakistan	Bangalore, India	M.Chinnaswamy Stadium	2007

ODI centuries[link]

ODI Cricket Centuries of Yuvraj Singh
#	Runs	ball	Against	City/Country	Venue	Year	Result
1	102	71	Bangladesh	Dhaka, Bangladesh	Shere Bangla National Stadium	2003
2	139	122	Australia	Sydney, Australia	Sydney Cricket Ground	2004
3	110	114	West Indies	Colombo, Sri Lanka	R Premadasa Stadium	2005
4	120	124	Zimbabwe	Harare, Zimbabwe	Harare Sports Club	2005
5	103	122	South Africa	Hyderabad, India	Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium	2005
6	107*	93	Pakistan	Karachi, Pakistan	National Stadium, Karachi	2006
7	103	76	England	Margao, India	Nehru Stadium, Fatorda, Margao	2006
8	121	115	Australia	Hyderabad, India	Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium	2007
9	138*	78	England	Rajkot, India	Madhavrao Scindia Cricket Ground	2008
10	118	122	England	Indore, India	Maharani Usharaje Trust Cricket	2008
11	117	95	Sri Lanka	Colombo, Sri Lanka	R Premadasa Stadium	2009
12	131	102	West Indies	Kingston, Jamaica	Sabina Park	2009
13	113	123	West Indies	Chennai, India	MA Chidambaram Stadium	2011

County cricket[link]

After the 2003 World Cup, Yuvraj was signed by Yorkshire, becoming only the second Indian after Tendulkar to represent the county.^[24] However, he had a disappointing run, scoring less than 200 runs in either form of the game,^[25] but described it as an important learning experience.

Commercial interests[link]

Yuvraj was signed by Microsoft to be a brand ambassador for the Xbox 360 video game console when it was launched in India in 2006. He appeared in advertisements for the console alongside Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar. Codemasters' cricket video game Brian Lara International Cricket 2007 was released with his endorsement in India, titled "Yuvraj Singh International Cricket 2007"^[26] The Bollywood animated film, Jumbo features cricketer Yuvraj Singh's voice therefore starting his career in Bollywood.^[27] The upcoming animated full length feature film Captain India features Yuvraj Singh as the main protagonist.^[28]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Yuvraj Singh

• Yuvraj Singh official website
• Player profile: Yuvraj Singh from ESPNcricinfo
• Player profile: Yuvraj Singh from CricketArchive
• Yuvraj Singh on Twitter
• Tendulkar's inspiration behind Yuvraj's success in Word Cup 2011. 362 runs (Include 1 Century & 4 Half Centuries). He was one of the 2nd Indian player who took 10 Wickets and made 362 runs.
• I would return to field in few months : Yuvraj Singh Gurgaon, April 11

v t e India squad – 2003 Cricket World Cup Runners-Up 3 Harbhajan Singh 5 Dravid 7 Srinath 9 Agarkar 10 Tendulkar 11 Kaif 12 Yuvraj 18 Kumble 20 Patel 24 Ganguly (c) 28 Mongia 34 Zaheer 44 Sehwag 64 Nehra 66 Bangar Coach: Wright

v t e India squad – 2006 ICC Champions Trophy 1 Dravid 2 Tendulkar 3 Agarkar 4 Dhoni 5 Harbhajan Singh 6 Kaif 7 Mongia 8 Patel 9 Pathan 10 Powar 11 Raina 12 Sehwag 13 R. P. Singh 14 Sreesanth 15 Yuvraj Singh Coach: G Chappell

v t e India squad – 2007 Cricket World Cup 3 Harbhajan 7 Dhoni 10 Tendulkar 12 Yuvraj 13 Munaf 19 Dravid (c) 21 Ganguly 27 Uthappa 34 Zaheer 36 Sreesanth 37 Kumble 44 Sehwag 56 Pathan 68 Agarkar 99 Karthik Coach: Chappell

v t e India squad – 2007 ICC World Twenty20 (1st Title) 1 Harbhajan 2 Dhoni(c) 3 R Sharma 4 Yuvraj 5 Joginder 6 YK Pathan 7 Gambhir 8 Uthappa 9 R. P. Singh 10 Sreesanth 11 Chawla 44 Sehwag 12 IK Pathan 13 Agarkar 14 Karthik Coach: Rajput

v t e India squad – 2009 ICC World Twenty20 3 Harbhajan 7 Dhoni(c) 45 Rohit 12 Yuvraj 84 Jadeja 28 Yusuf 5 Gambhir 30 Ojha 9 R. P. Singh 29 Ishant 48 Raina 46 Sehwag 63 Irfan 34 Zaheer 1 Karthik 8 Praveen Coach: Kirsten

v t e India squad – 2010 ICC World Twenty20 3 Harbhajan 7 Dhoni(c) 45 Rohit 12 Yuvraj 26 Jadeja 28 Yusuf 5 Gambhir 24 Chawla 08 Vijay 64 Nehra 48 Raina 46 Yadav 23 Vinay 34 Zaheer 1 Karthik 8 Praveen Coach: Kirsten Praveen Kumar was injured and replaced by Umesh Yadav halfway through the tournament.

v t e India squad – 2011 Cricket World Cup (2nd Title) 3 Harbhajan 5 Gambhir 7 Dhoni (c & wk) 10 Tendulkar 11 Chawla 12 Yuvraj 13 Munaf 18 Kohli 28 Yusuf 34 Zaheer 36 Sreesanth 44 Sehwag 48 Raina 64 Nehra 66 Ashwin Coach: Kirsten Praveen Kumar was injured and replaced by Sreesanth.

Shazahn Padamsee
Shazahn Padamsee at the RWITC race awards, 2012.
Born	(1987-12-08) 8 December 1987 (age 24)[1] Mumbai
Occupation	Film actress, Theatre artist, model
Years active	2009–present

Shazahn Padamsee is an Indian film and stage actress, who has also worked as model. Daughter of noted actors Alyque Padamsee and Sharon Prabhakar, she made her first film appearance in the 2009 Hindi film Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year. After the failure of her début film, she went on to appear in two South Indian films, gaining credit from critics for her performance, before featuring in Madhur Bhandarkar's Dil Toh Baccha Hai Ji in a prominent role.

Career[link]

After appearances in several stage performances including her father's play Unspoken Dialogues, Shazahn appeared in several national advertisements, whilst auditioning for roles in Hindi films. After a film with Vivek Vaswani failed to materialize, she successfully auditioned for the part in Yash Raj Studio's Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year opposite Ranbir Kapoor.^[2] Shazhan played Sherena in the film, the first customer who treats the titular character with respect during his job as a salesman. Although she played the leading female role, her screen-time was minimal leading to critics claiming that her role had little scope.^[3] The film opened to positive reviews, but the lack of publicity became a reason for it becoming a failure commercially at the box office.^[4]

Her second and third films were released on the same day, both being South Indian films in Tamil and Telugu respectively. In Kanimozhi, Shazahn played the role of Anu, a girl in the neighbourhood who the lead actor, played by Jai is nervous to express his feelings to. She had been approached after the director had looked through an online portfolio, and only signed after consent from her father.^[5] Upon release, the film gained mixed reviews with Shazahn's portrayal of her character being criticised.^[6] Critics claimed that she "looked pretty and was photographed well" but she could have "expressed more energy and expression" into her role, labelling her as a Barbie doll.^[7] However her Telugu film Orange garnered more positive reviews and Shazahn's portrayal of her role was better received by critics.^[8] Shazahn's character of Rooba, originally named after a song in the film, appeared in a flashback sequence as the girlfriend of the protagonist played by Ram Charan Teja. A critic from NDTV said her performance was "a delight to watch" and that "Padamsee looks set for a long innings down South",^[9] whilst similar claims the critics from Sify and The Hindu claims that she "shines in her role" and that she "brings freshness to the screen".^[10][11]

Shazahn's first release of 2011 was the romantic comedy Dil Toh Baccha Hai Ji directed by Madhur Bhandarkar. The film portrayed her as June Pinto, an intern in an office whom an older divorced man, played by Ajay Devgn falls for.^[12] The film, which also featured Emraan Hashmi, Omi Vaidya, Shruti Haasan and Shraddha Das in other parallel roles, saw Shazahn indulge in heavy promotional work along with her co-stars.^[13] Shazahn's performance gaining mixed responses from critics with a reviewer citing that "looks like a doll and gets the character right" whilst another labelled hers as "the film's worst performance";^[14][15] the film went on to become a commercial success at the box office.^[16]She recently underwent a nose job surgery which reported several time by the media as "gone horribly wrong". Shazahn went under the knife again got her nose redone to retrieve her previous look which lead to lack of continuity in her look in her latest movie Housefull 2. Shazahn 's recent movie Housefull 2 alongside an ensemble cast including Akshay Kumar, John Abraham, Asin and Jacqueline Fernandez. The film has received mixed reviews,however, the response was more positive than its predecessor and it opened very well at the box office and was declared a super hit by Box Office India.Grossing 100 Crores.

Filmography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Shazahn Padamsee at the Internet Movie Database
• Shazahn Padamsee on Twitter

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Shazahn Padamsee

Munna Bhai is a series of Bollywood films directed by Rajkumar Hirani and produced by Vinod Chopra Productions. The first film is Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. (2003), the second is Lage Raho Munna Bhai (2006). A third film, Munnabhai Chale America is still under development.^[1]

Overview[link]

Murli Prasad Sharma (Munna Bhai) is portrayed by Sanjay Dutt. He is a "Bhai" - a leader in the Mumbai underworld. His nickname, Munna Bhai has a double meaning. It could refer to the form of "Bhai" as an honorific, as the word traditionally translates as "brother"; however, within the context of Mumbai slang, "Bhai" has also come to refer to a hoodlum.^[2] His sidekick is Circuit (portrayed by Arshad Warsi). They both speak in Bambaiya Hindi, a dialect specific to Mumbai, India.

Munna Bhai was first introduced in the 2003 film Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. which involves his adventures as a faux-medical student, who finally tells the truth about himself and learns to help people along the way.

In the second movie, Lage Raho Munna Bhai, Munna Bhai becomes a faux-professor. He begins, thereafter to see the image of Mahatma Gandhi who persuades him to stop pretending he is a professor and who teaches him to help other people solve their problems through Gandhism, which Munna Bhai terms Gandhigiri.

Notes[link]

External links[link]

• Murliprasad 'Munna Bhai' Sharma at Internet Movie Database