Yuvraj Singh: Redefining will, passion and determination

Yuvraj Singh

Yuvraj Singh returns in Indian colors after a hiatus. And what a script he is writing since coming back! He has emerged as a huge inspirational figure for people from all walks of life. With faith, desire and determination he has overpowered his adversities.

Being Yuvraj Singh was tough even before cancer struck him. His parents divorced when he was still a teenager. He was in and out of the team for long. His off-field actions were deemed as the reason for his failure on the cricket field.

Yuvraj’s journey has always been a roller-coaster ride ever since he debuted. Despite being a proven match winner, he is always a few poor outings away from being dropped. Even his place in the World Cup 2011 team was not a certainty after a series of low scores before World Cup. He scored only two 50-plus scores in 2010. He failed to go past 20 in all but one match against South Africa just before the World Cup. He was clearly not in the best of form.

More recently when he was dropped for the Champions trophy, it looked like the end of the road for him. With the selectors clearly looking to invest in young blood and not afraid of dropping non-performing seniors, it was always going to take more than an extraordinary effort from him to force the selectors to select him in the team.

Yuvraj Singh’s story is one for the ages. This is what legends are made of. Before the 2011 World Cup, he fought a hard battle with his inner demons. He had lost his place in the Test side and his place in the one-day side was in jeopardy too. He was on the brink of being left out of the World Cup side because of a stretch of indifferent form.

All of this would have hurt Yuvraj Singh. For long he was India’s best finisher along with Dhoni. For an impact player like Yuvraj, confidence matters the most, and he has always been a big match player. The selectors seem to understand that too. They trusted his abilities and he was given another shot at glory. As the tournament progressed, he discovered his lost form rather swiftly and soon he was all over the World Cup.

Though he was scoring runs, hitting sixes and taking wickets, he didn’t have any idea what was happening inside his body; it was getting worn out. After the quarterfinal against Australia, Dhoni admitted that Yuvraj had been vomiting a lot. This was seen as nervousness. It looked obvious as India was only two steps away from creating history. Anxiety must have been creeping in the bodies of every player.

When India had one hand on World Cup victory, a tumour mounted inside Yuvraj, pressing against his artery. He looked uneasy, restless and was seen coughing. Inhaling oxygen was tougher than scoring runs. Yet it was not enough to stop him from winning matches.

That World Cup was a Yuvraj Singh story. He was a hero; he could do no wrong.

But heroes are human and humans fall. Yuvraj fell too. It was not his batting but his body that did him in and a few months later he was diagnosed with a rare germ cell cancer.