Yuvraj Singh is one of Indian cricket’s most iconic figures from the 21st century, for his big hitting and clutch performances through his career, but also in large part thanks to a moving personal story that saw him overcome the odds against a cancer diagnosis to be a central figure in the sport for the Indian team.
Speaking to the Stick to Cricket podcast this week, Yuvraj touched on the situation he found himself in when he was diagnosed with cancer, and how the battle between the desire to play Test cricket for India and to watch his own health led to difficulties in coming to terms with his diagnosis.
“We were going on a two month tour to West Indies then a two and half month tour to England. Ganguly had just retired and suddenly there was my place that had opened up to play Test cricket,” explained Yuvraj.
The batter made his ODI debut in 2000, but was always an intermittent player. Ganguly’s Test retirement in 2008 created the call for a left-handed batter in the middle order, and as far as Yuvraj was concerned, he was happy to take big risks to make it his own.
‘3-6 months’ bombshell for Yuvraj
“I was waiting seven years for my spot. In my head I was like, I don’t care if I die, I need that spot,” said Yuvraj, who would be diagnosed with cancer after his player of the tournament performance in the 2011 World Cup, which India proceeded to win on home turf thanks in large part to his contributions.
“Not coming to terms with it was something I was going through because as a sportsman you can’t be sick, you need to play for India,” reflected Yuvraj, providing a peek into his psyche at that moment which made it a difficult call.
“Eventually I got sicker and sicker playing cricket and Dr. Nitesh Rohatgi, one of our close friends, a very senior doctor, said to me ‘I looked at your scans. The tumor is sitting between your heart and lung, sitting on the pipe. Either you don’t go play cricket, or you have a heart attack. I think you have 3-6 months left, if you don’t do chemotherapy,’” said Yuvraj, indicating at just how harrowing an experience it became.
Yuvraj would undergo chemotherapy over that winter, and would be fit enough to play for India again by 2012. It is a commendable feat that he was able to return to international cricket the way he did, having a successful 2012 on return, and playing for India until 2017.
