In a recent interview, India’s veteran batsman Yuvraj Singh opened up on his fight with cancer and how his world came crashing down after he received the news days after leading India to the World Cup glory.
No player made an impact on the 2011 World Cup like Yuvraj Singh. No matter whether he was batting, bowling or fielding, Yuvraj always stood out from the rest. Match after match, he was churning out performances that inched the country closer to the trophy.
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But little did everyone know that with every passing day he was putting his life at stake. A giant tumour, eventually 15cm x 11cm x 13 cm was growing within him was pressing against a lung and artery. The hero of the country couldn’t sleep, was finding it tough to breathe. However, those ordeals didn’t stop him to bag the Man of the Match award in almost every match.
The squatting on the haunches during his laborious century against the West Indies to help India top the group, the warcry after hitting the winning four against Australia to help his team qualify for the semi-finals are still fresh in every cricket fan’s mind. And then came the moment- a teary-eyed Yuvraj Singh standing with his arms folded around Mahendra Singh Dhoni after the Indian skipper launched Nuwan Kulasekara for a six to end the long wait for the World Cup. He went on to scoop the Man of the Tournament award for his all-round displays.
However, his happiness soon turned into despair when he was diagnosed with cancer, 10 months after the monumental feat at the Wankhede.
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But the fighter he is, he went on defeat cancer. He came out of the war against cancer unscathed and as a winner to make a miraculous return to the field.
“The diagnosis of cancer shortly after the high of the World Cup victory, it took the joy out of everything, it was a very dark moment in my life,” Yuvraj told CricketNext.
“When you win the World Cup, when you are Player of the Tournament, you are on top of the mountain. Suddenly, you fall in the ditch. It’s just life, you don’t expect that — you are left with no choice. I had to bounce back and I did it in what I thought was the best way I could,” he added.
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The legendary batsman further said that he he wanted to prove a point by just playing for India again and that was his biggest motivation.
“I wanted to prove a point, that I could come back and play for India. That was my biggest motivation. I wanted to prove that point to myself, as much as to anyone else. Everybody said you can’t, and I said I can. It was mind over matter. I had some good games, some bad games, I was in and out of the team.
“But I still managed to play a lot of cricket after that – I played a couple of T20 World Cups and a bit of one-day cricket when everybody said that it won’t be possible. That’s the biggest joy in life, when people say it is not possible and you can make it possible. People thought that my career was over after cancer, and I came back and registered my highest one-day score. That was only self-belief, nothing else,” he said.
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Yuvraj made his comeback to the ODI team last year and scored a career-best 150 against England. However, he soon lost his form and is currently out of the team. The southpaw is looking in good form in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy and would be looking to do well to earn a recall before the next year’s World Cup.