Yuvraj Singh is a big match player. And Virat Kohli knows it. India face South Africa in a do-or-die clash against South Africa in the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 on Sunday and the Men in Blue will to need to do something special to win against the world No.1 ranked one-day international side.
Ahead of the mega clash, the Indian captain backed Yuvraj to strike it big against the Proteas at The Oval. The 35-year-old star all-rounder will be playing in his 299th ODI match when he takes to the field on Sunday and Kohli hoped that the southpaw will turn it into a special one.
"300 ODIs is a magnificent achievement. Obviously, you have to be super skilled and super talented to be able to play those many games for the country and no one has ever had any doubts over the ability that he posses to win games for the country," Kohli said in the pre-match press conference in London on Saturday.
Yuvraj is a vital cog in the Indian middle order. With his ability to play the anchor role in crunch situations and accelerate when needed, Yuvraj can play a big role against South Africa, who have a strong bowling attack.
Yuvraj has been in decent form in this year's Champions Trophy. He struck a breezy 32-ball 53 against Pakistan and helped India ho past the 300-run mark. However, he failed to make a mark against Sri Lanka - making 7 runs off 18 balls.
Kohli said Yuvraj, who won the man of the tournament awards in India's title winning campaigns at the 2007 World Twenty20 and at the 2011 World Cup, would want to leave a mark against South Africa.
"He has done it in big tournaments and tomorrow is a big games as well so he might just want to use that as an extra motivation for him to be able to leave a mark on the cricketing world," Kohli said.
The Indian skipper also highlighted Yuvraj's battling attitude and reflected on his fight and eventual victory against cancer.
"He has achieved tremendous things for India - two man of the tournament awards in World Cups with India winning both is a very special achievement and personally in his life as well he has fought bigger battles and that's a proof of the character that he posses and temperament that he has.
"I wish him all the best for tomorrow and many more games that he will play for India and hopefully tomorrow he can turn this game into a special one for us," Kohli said.
