India all-rounder Yuvraj Singh has announced his retirement from international cricket and the IPL at the age of 37.
Yuvraj played 40 Tests, 304 ODIs and 58 T20Is in all, playing starring roles at the inaugural World Twenty20 in 2007 and then the Cricket World Cup four years later.
India triumphed on both occasions, with Yuvraj making decisive contributions with both bat and ball, but he is best known for his efforts in 2011, which saw him named the tournament's best player.
He had not played for his country since June 2017, though, and has decided to call time on his career on the international and IPL stages.
JUST IN: Yuvraj Singh, Player of the Tournament at #CWC11, has announced his retirement from international cricket. pic.twitter.com/fqzEO1CnpH
— ICC (@ICC) June 10, 2019
"I have decided to move on," he told reporters in Mumbai on Monday. "It's a very difficult and at the same time a very beautiful moment for me.
"I can't really put it into words, but I will try. After 25 years... and almost 17 years of international cricket on and off, I have decided to move on.
"Cricket has given me everything I have and is the reason I stand here today. It was a love-hate relationship with the sport, in retrospect. I don't think I hated this game because of the love I have for it today, which will remain constant until the end of life.
"This game taught me how to fight, how to fall, to dust myself off, to get up again and move forward.
"I have failed more times than I succeeded, but I never gave up and will never give up until my last breath - and that is what cricket has taught me."
It was confirmed in 2012 that Yuvraj had been diagnosed with cancer, but the left-hander was incredibly back in action for his country later in the year after completing three cycles of chemotherapy in the United States.
Yuvraj became the most expensive player in IPL history when he was recruited by Royal Challengers Bangalore for 14 crore in 2014 and Delhi Daredevils paid a record 16 crore for his services the following year.
He scored 14 ODI hundreds and took 111 wickets, also making three Test centuries.
Photo Getty Images. Caption: India all-rounder Yuvraj Singh