Yuvraj to be chief guest at Euro tie

Indian cricketer and vice-captain Yuvraj Singh will present the Man of the Match Award in Sunday’s Euro 2008 tie between Switzerland and Portugal in Basel.

At the moment, India’s ODI side is playing arch-rivals Pakistan in today’s final of the Kitply Cup in a day/night match at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium at Bangladesh. Yuvraj is expected to head to Basel, Switzerland as soon as the match gets over.

Indian cricketers have rarely shared the spotlight amidst soccer heroes of the world. But this move of promoting Indian cricket stars is undertaken by a sponsor, Carlsberg. A release from Carlsberg said that India is one of the few countries that has been asked to take a celebrity to represent the nation at the Euro 2008.

Yuvraj Singh is a self-proclaimed Manchester United fan. His favourite player is Cristiano Ronaldo, who is incidentally be playing for Portugal tomorrow. Yuvraj said that he was delighted to be part of the ceremony adding that it was a huge honour to be handing out the Man of the Match award in a tournament like the Euro.

The Indian vice-captain was ecstatic at the chance of meeting his football hero and said that he was up all night watching the recent Champions League final where Manchester United beat Chealsea last month despite having played a DLF Indian Premier League (IPL) game only a few hours earlier.

India’s ODI captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was the first choice to present this award but declined due to prior commitments. If rain plays spoilsport in today’s final against Pakistan, then it may prove a hurdle in Yuvraj’s date with Euro 2008. He will then be faced with the decision of either staying with his team for the reserve day, which is tomorrow, or heading to Basel and leaving his team to battle Pakistan without him.