Desperate to don his India jersey once again, cricketer Yuvraj Singh, who recently returned to the country after undergoing three cycles of chemotherapy in the U.S. for a rare germ cell cancer, says he is set to start training in a “week or two“.
“I’ll start training in a week or two. I definitely want to get back on the field as soon as possible and wear my India cap again,” Yuvraj said.
As far as getting back to serious cricket is concerned, the left—hander said he would take a call depending on the way his body responds to training.
“I can’t really give a time right now, because I’ll have to see how my body responds to the training and the workouts,” he was quoted as saying in the IPL’s official website.
Yuvraj, who was last year diagnosed with a malignant tumour between his lungs, returned to the country on April 9 after undergoing treatment in the U.S.
“The doctors haven’t given me any medicine. They said the effect of chemo is completely out of my system. It’s been about five weeks now and I feel stronger day by day,” Yuvraj added.
Yuvraj, who led the Pune Warriors in the last IPL, said the team will pull through under former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly’s leadership in the ongoing edition.
“He’s (Ganguly) had a lot of experience as a captain for Team India and he’d be the best guy to lead the team at the moment. I just hope that they get into last four, and with his experience the team can really pull through.
“My team (Pune Warriors) is doing really well and it’s great to watch them play. It is an exciting experience to watch the matches as a fan for the first time,” he said.
Diagnosed with the dreaded disease a few months after winning the Man—of—the—Series award for playing a stealer role in India’s triumphant campaign in the World Cup, 2011 turned out to be a mixed year for Yuvraj.
“Yes, the World Cup was the highest high of my career.
And from there to plunge into the lowest phase of life, it was very hard to digest. At first, I didn’t believe it was happening and I was not ready to accept it.
“It took me close to two months to get to terms with the fact and understand what was actually happening to me.”
Yuvraj said recovering from a disease like cancer has been his greatest achievement.
“As a sportsperson, when you’re not performing, you know you’ll always come back by working hard. But with cancer, you don’t know whether you’ll ever come back. And to be able to beat the disease is my greatest achievement in life.”
The left—hander said he was thrilled to meet former India teammate Anil Kumble during the course of his treatment.
“His visit was really motivating. Before that, I had only seen him on the field and in the dressing room as a cricketer.
It was nice to meet him as a person and chat to him.”
The cricketer said by keeping a positive outlook during the toughest battle of his life, he wanted to send out a message to those who are suffering from cancer.
“The main reason for me to be positive and show everyone that I was being strong was to send a message back home that if you’re suffering from such a disease, you need to fight it out. If you have a strong mind and support from your family, you can definitely win the battle.
“The awareness of cancer in India is not that great. A lot of people ignore the symptoms or hide the disease. I can relate with all the cancer patients and can feel their pain.
Yuvraj said in the future, he wants to help out those who are suffering from the disease.
“I definitely want to do something for the Cancer Society. The plans are there, but everything takes time. Lance Armstrong’s foundation, Livestrong took a couple of years to generate the kind of money it did.”
