Heartbreak for Yuvraj fans at Mohali

It was heartbreak for many die-hard fans of local hero Yuvraj Singh, who got out for a first-ball duck, in the third cricket one-dayer against Australia on Saturday.

Mohali: It was heartbreak for many die-hard fans of local hero Yuvraj Singh, who got out for a first-ball duck, in the third cricket one-dayer against Australia here on Saturday.

Even before the start of the day-night game in the afternoon, numerous fans of Yuvraj Singh had gathered outside the PCA stadium, carrying his pictures and chanting `Yuvi Yuvi`. After being dropped from the squad at the beginning of the year, Yuvraj had made a successful comeback and his fans were hoping to see a big innings from the dashing left-hander. "We all know the fighter that Yuvraj is, who defeated a dreaded disease like cancer. Recently, he has been in good form and even guided India to victory in an improbable chase in the Twenty20 match against Australia. "We are a group of friends, all die-hard fans of Yuvi, who had come to see a big innings from him, but it seems we will have to wait for another day," said Tejveer Singh. Yuvraj had spend considerable time at the nets yesterday and Mohali`s traditionally bouncy nature of wicket suited his style of batting, said another fan, adding that the batsman was a bit unlucky to have given a catch of the very first ball. Meanwhile, it was not just Yuvraj, who disappointed the fans, but batting legend Sachin Tendulkar`s absence was also greatly felt by the fans at the PCA stadium. A small aircraft, generally used by big companies for advertisement purposes, hovered over the PCA stadium for quite some time, with a strip attached to its tail, which read, "We Will Miss You Tendulkar". The aircraft had been hired by a leading jewellery brand. "I wish Sachin was still playing. He had smashed the Pakistanis all around the park when India defeated them at the 2011 World Cup semi-final match played at Mohali," said an avid Tendulkar fan, Sukhraj Singh.