When Yuvraj Singh started reading cancer survivor and seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong’s autobiography, It’s Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life, a few years back, little did he know his own life was about to follow a similar course.
Diagnosed with a cancerous tumour in his left lung a little under a year after leading India to success in the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup and claiming the Player of the Tournament honour, Singh’s career took a turn for the worse.
If American cyclist Armstrong’s battle with a malignant tumor was perhaps the most gruelling stage of his life, for ‘Yuvi’, as he is fondly known, things were even more confounding than having to face a doosra spinning out of the hands of the legendary Muttiah Muralitharan, who he still considers his most feared opponent.
Dressed in a basic tee and jeans and with a baseball cap on, Yuvi cut the figure of a relaxed man enjoying a well-earned break in the UAE.
He has been out of action ever since his cancer was detected early this year, but sometimes what transpires off the field can be even more dreadful and intimidating than what can happen once you step over the rope.
Yuvi is seated on a divan in one of the lounges at the Dubai International Exhibition Centre after addressing a press conference for sponsors Investors Clinic on the sidelines of the Indian Property Show.
He has just ordered a cup of kadak chai (strong brewed tea) and is still taking questions from journalists, when someone from his entourage announces “No more cricketing-related questions please!”
Perhaps the 30-year-old had nothing more to say. After all, he had only just poured his heart out during the 15-minute press conference, speaking of the journey he undertook over the past four months, one that has been both dreadful and life-changing in equal measure.
More about Yuvi’s life on and off the field and his time in the chemotheraphy chambers will be revealed in an autobiographical book of his own which he hopes to publish by the end of the year. The swashbuckling Indian all-rounder, who had worked his way to the top of the cricketing order with his incredible talent and, to a certain extent, a bit of chutzpah, is thankful for his second chance at life.
On the mend
“I definitely feel stronger, you can’t feel stronger than this,” Yuvi says. “It’s changed my perspective on life. I understand better what life means to a person now.”
He added: “I’ve been upbeat about life and it’s nice to be yourself again. I haven’t run away from life or the cricket field, but now I’m just a better person, I guess. Just to come back from cancer is something I can’t express. I think I have done pretty well, but I can’t put a time frame on recovering fully.
“I think it’s a bit too late for the World T20. I’ve been out of the hospital for the last two months and have started training lightly, but my body is taking a bit more time to get fully fit.
“Obviously before that I hope to play a few domestic games. “I know I will have to work extra hard and put in more hours to get there. Before the World Cup I endured a very bad year because of injuries so it was tough on the body.”
Inspiration
Yuvi says the strong messages 40-year-old Armstrong sends out in his book helped him see the light during his darkest hours. “It was a very difficult time for me, one of the toughest periods of my life and I would have done anything to be inspired,” says the Chandigarh-born star.
“I had started reading Lance Armstrong’s book It’s Not About the Bike a couple of years ago and then I stopped reading it, maybe this was a way for me to complete the book. He was definitely inspiring because he battled a cancer which was even worse than mine and showed the dedication and commitment to come back and do well in his sport.
“To win the Tour de France seven times is a great achievement, but to do it after recovering from a cancer? More than a sporting hero, he is a real-life hero to me. I have taken a lot of inspiration from that and it’s something that will help me in life and cricket.
“I hope to be positive use some elements of it in my game and hopefully come back stronger. It’s going to be one hell of a job to try and come back, but I’m just going to give it my best.”
And that means he will return only when he feels “100 per cent” ready to resume his cricketing responsibilities. It remains highly doubtful if he’ll play at the ICC T20 World Cup in Sri Lanka in September, but the tournament is an ambitious target nevertheless.
“I’m not going to come back 80-90 per cent fit, I’m going to be 100 per cent fit and come back, that’s my target,” said Yuvi, who has played 37 Tests, 274 ODIs and 23 T20s for India after making his debut in 2000. “If I don’t feel up to it I will take a month or two more to get back.
“I am not really worried about my place in the Indian team as long as I’m performing to the best of my abilities and doing well for my country. “Whatever series I get to play for India is a huge honour and it’s not my call. My motto now is fight until you die, so I have to keep fighting.
“I have come back in the past and there is no reason why I can’t come back once again. I have the will.”
Yuvi’s thoughts bring to mind the good old maxim, one I’m sure we’ve all heard or been told at some point of time in our lives that “where there’s a will, there is a way”.
LOWDOWN ON YUVI
Favourite sportsperson: Lance Armstrong, seven-time Tour de France-winning American cyclist and fellow cancer survivor.
Favourite food: Desi (traditional) Indian recipes, but apart from Indian I also love Thai food.
Favourite holiday destination: Queensland and New Zealand.
Most feared rival: Muttiah Muralitharan. Is he here?
Best thing about Dubai: Nightlife
* For breaking news, follow us on @Sport_360 or find us on Facebook.
