Yuvraj Singh’s life is one of the most powerful stories of Indian cricket ever. Yuvraj Singh is the same person who destroyed bowlers on the field and defeated cancer off the field. His journey continues to inspire every young cricketer who dreams big.
From winning two World Cups to fighting for his life, the great Indian all-rounder’s journey has been full of courage, pain and incredible determination. Recently, Yuvraj has told how close he came to losing everything and how he defeated cancer.
Yuvraj Singh’s fatal battle with cancer after World Cup 2011 heroics
During his peak, right after playing a key role in India’s 2011 ODI World Cup glory, the former superstar learned that he had only a few months to live. Anyone would have been heartbroken after hearing this news, but the boy from Punjab decided to fight harder than ever.
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Yuvraj revealed that he was battling constant pain during the 2011 World Cup, but he pushed himself forward and doctors later warned him about a life-threatening tumor growing dangerously close to his heart and lungs. This was a huge blow for him as after years of waiting he was about to get a permanent place in the Indian Test team as Sourav Ganguly was retiring.
Even if I die, it doesn’t matter to me – Yuvraj Singh
Speaking with Michael Vaughan on The Overlap cricket podcast on YouTube, Yuvraj Singh shared: “It was hard to accept. At the peak of your career, you’re on top of a mountain and then you fall into the abyss. I was in Delhi. We were going on a tour of the West Indies and England. Ganguly had retired, and my Test spot had just opened up. I’d been waiting for that spot for seven years.”
He continued, “I said, ‘I don’t care if I die; I want that place.’ But I became more and more ill. Dr. Nitish Rohatgi told me, ‘The tumor is sitting between your heart and lungs. Either you go and play cricket or you may have a heart attack. If you don’t get chemotherapy you have three to six months left to live. ‘That’s when I realized I needed to think.’
The most difficult year of Yuvraj Singh’s life
Yuvraj went to America to get treatment from Dr. Einhorn, who had also treated Lance Armstrong. The former Indian all-rounder also shared that it took him a year to accept the fact that he would never be able to play again. At that time, he needed something to motivate himself, so he was watching cricket videos to feel connected to the game during his treatment days.
He recalled, “If I don’t play cricket, then who am I? I am nobody. That’s what I believed. I kept watching old videos. Anil Kumble came to America, closed my laptop and said, ‘Pay attention to your health; stop watching cricket videos.’ Sachin came to England to meet me. Dr. Einhorn gave me confidence; He said, you will be the one person who comes out of this hospital and will never have cancer again.”
A comeback that will be remembered for a lifetime.
After months of chemotherapy, weakness and emotional turmoil, Yuvraj Singh returned to the field in just six months. Even though he was not entirely at his best, he still managed to make an impact at the 2012 T20 World Cup. Later, he trained in France with Zaheer Khan to rebuild his strength, and saved himself from pain to make another spectacular comeback in international cricket.
After winning the battle with cancer, he kept going in and out of the Indian team. In 2013, he was dropped for the Champions Trophy, but was recalled for the Australia series. Then, he made a comeback into the team in 2016 and eventually bid farewell to his career in 2019 after not getting chances for India since June 2017.
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