Yuvraj has cancer; undergoing chemo in US

Chandigarh, February 5

The moment you think about India’s ODI World Cup win last year, the one image that hits you is of a charged up Yuvraj Singh. People remember the flamboyance, the flair, the all-round show he put up in the premier one-day tournament. But what is forgotten is that just before that, he was struggling to break into the playing eleven on a regular basis. Questions had started cropping up on whether he had lost focus.

The dashing southpaw replied with his bat, and with lots of grit. But now he has a bigger battle at hand and he will have to fight harder, much harder.

It has been revealed that Yuvraj, who was earlier said to have a non-malignant lung tumor, is suffering from cancer. Currently, he is undergoing chemotherapy at Cancer Research Institute in Boston.

The news means a massive blow to Team India and all its fans as the Chandigarh lad was expected to be back in the team early this year after he had almost made himself available for the ongoing ODI tri-series in Australia before opting out at the last moment.

Dr Jatin Chaudhary, Yuvraj’s physiotherapist, said: “It is a rare tumour and is cancerous but it has been detected in stage one itself. Doctors had to decide whether to continue medication or go for chemotherapy but since parts of the tumour are just above the artery of his heart, there was a danger that while running, it could burst. But it is 100 per cent curable."

His family and friends remained unavailable for comment throughout the day. In November last year, it was Yuvraj’s mother Shabnam who had tweeted about her son’s illness while he was training at the National Cricket Academy, Bangalore.

The cancer, according to Dr Chaudhary, was detected by a Russian doctor. The flamboyant batsman has been responding well to chemotherapy. Yuvraj has also undergone Ayurveda medication and, as a result, will have to undergo lesser sessions of chemotherapy.
Dr Chaudhary added that it was due to wrong diagnosis earlier that the disease took longer to be detected.
Yuvraj’s career had got a fresh lease of life last year as making a comeback into the Indian team, he put in an amazing display to help India win the ODI World Cup after a gap of 28 years. He was adjudged the Player of the Tournament and many remember captain MS Dhoni and Yuvraj breaking into tears at the Wankhede pitch after India won the final and the coveted trophy.
It is expected that Yuvraj will recover fully from the ailment by May and should be available for selection soon after. “End of March, he would undergo a CT scan and should recover by then. After that it is just some rehabilitation in April before he is fit to be back on the field in May,” Dr Chaudhary added.