He’s best known for hitting six sixes in one over and for lifting the World Cup with team India. But before he got there, he’s also had to overcome a rough childhood and a lengthy battle with cancer. As Yuvraj Singh celebrates his 39th birthday, here’s one of the greatest comeback stories ever told.
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00:00My father was like a Hitler.
00:02Practice from morning to evening.
00:06There were no good conditions in our house.
00:08Mr. Yograj Singh.
00:10You must have seen Bhaag Milkha Bhaag.
00:14Have you seen Bhaag Milkha Bhaag?
00:16So how were they making Milkha run?
00:20How did they make Milkha run?
00:24Like they made me run.
00:26We went for a biopsy.
00:30The biopsy report came.
00:32The doctor said it's a tumor.
00:34Your son has cancer.
00:36I was like oh doctor.
00:46He is lying.
00:50I want to tell you
00:52when I was young
00:54I was very small.
00:58I didn't like playing cricket.
01:08Sports like tennis, football
01:12and skating
01:14were my hobbies.
01:18I didn't like playing in the sun.
01:20I used to think who will go in the sun for 6 hours.
01:26But one day
01:28my father was waiting
01:30that not today
01:32not tomorrow
01:34someday he will start playing cricket.
01:36My father
01:40couldn't play much for India.
01:42He was an angry person.
01:44He still is.
01:46So
01:48he was a little aggressive.
01:50He still is.
01:52So
01:54he told me
01:56son
01:58I want you to play cricket.
02:02I said
02:04I didn't say anything.
02:06Because I believe in life
02:08that your child
02:10or you
02:12you should do
02:14whatever you want
02:16to make you happy.
02:18My father's happiness
02:20was that
02:22I should play cricket.
02:24In which I had to sacrifice my happiness.
02:28Mr. Yograj Singh
02:30You must have seen Bhaag Milkha Bhaag.
02:32Have you seen Bhaag Milkha Bhaag?
02:36How they were making Milkha run.
02:38How they made Milkha run.
02:40How they made Milkha run.
02:44Like they made me run.
02:46I can't even tell you.
02:48So
02:50one day
02:52in roller skating
02:54there was a 50 round race.
02:58I was under 14
03:00and I was around 11 years old.
03:02I remember
03:04I played 50 rounds with a lot of effort
03:06and I came first.
03:08And I
03:10took my
03:12gold medal and certificate
03:14and my father came to receive me.
03:18So I showed my father
03:20the gold medal. It was a very proud moment for me.
03:22I was 11 years old.
03:24And I said dad I won a gold medal today.
03:28So my dad said nothing.
03:30He made me sit in the car.
03:32And as soon as we were leaving
03:34the skating rink
03:36he opened the door
03:38and didn't throw me out.
03:40He threw my skates and gold medal
03:42out.
03:44And he said
03:46enough of this drama.
03:48From now on you will only play cricket.
03:50And only cricket.
03:52And I remember
03:54I went home crying.
03:56So since then
03:58I started playing cricket.
04:02It was very difficult to work hard
04:04at the age of 11 or 12.
04:06But my father used to monitor me
04:08from morning to evening.
04:10He used to wake me up at 6 in the morning
04:12and
04:14he used to say run son run.
04:16He didn't meet me.
04:18So
04:20it was very difficult.
04:22Sometimes I used to get very tired
04:24and I didn't feel like getting up.
04:26So one day
04:28I felt that maybe my father
04:30has gone for a shoot and
04:32he is not at home.
04:34But unfortunately
04:36he was at home and I didn't know.
04:38And it was January
04:40so
04:42he came to my room and told me to get up.
04:44And January is very cold in Chandigarh.
04:46He told me
04:48to get up son.
04:50So I
04:52didn't listen to him because I was very tired
04:54and I didn't feel like getting up.
04:56So he told me very lovingly
04:58that it's time for training.
05:00He used to say get up
05:02get up a lot.
05:04Come on son, get up.
05:06So
05:10I didn't get up.
05:14The temperature was 4 degrees
05:16and
05:18it was foggy outside
05:20and the sun didn't rise.
05:22I picked up a bucket of cold water
05:26and put it on my chest.
05:28But
05:30I went out crying
05:32and started running.
05:34I kept crying.
05:36My father came on the bike
05:38and told me not to stop
05:40and keep running.
05:42So all these things
05:44I think
05:46made me very strong in life.
05:48So my father was like a Hitler.
05:50He used to practice from morning to evening.
05:54There were no good conditions in our house.
05:56My parents
05:58used to fight a lot.
06:02It was not
06:04a good environment for the house.
06:06In 2010, I woke up one day
06:08and was sleeping at night.
06:12I coughed a lot.
06:16I woke up
06:18went to the bathroom and coughed.
06:20A little blood came out.
06:26I thought
06:28something is wrong.
06:30The next day, I met my physio
06:32and told him that
06:34I was having trouble breathing.
06:36I was having trouble breathing in the match.
06:38I was running.
06:40I was not able to breathe.
06:42So I told my physio
06:44that I was not able to breathe from the left side.
06:46I was having trouble.
06:48So our doctor told me
06:50to get it checked.
06:52I said okay.
06:54Let's do something.
06:56Let's get it checked.
06:58We went to India and the World Cup camp started.
07:00So I said I won't get it checked.
07:02Because I know something is wrong.
07:08Let's leave it for now.
07:10Let's focus on the game.
07:12We played the World Cup.
07:16There was a World Cup in India.
07:18There was a lot of pressure on us.
07:20Your expectations
07:22were
07:26on us.
07:28I remember
07:30my health was getting worse.
07:32I was not able to sleep
07:34in many matches.
07:36I was having
07:38a lot of issues.
07:40A lot of blood came out.
07:42I thought something is wrong.
07:44Something is wrong.
07:46We kept on playing.
07:50We did well in the World Cup.
07:52We won the World Cup.
07:58We won the World Cup
08:00after 28 years.
08:02It was a big thing for us.
08:04It was a big thing for the country.
08:06We won the World Cup.
08:08Yuvraj Singh, Man of the Series.
08:14Four Man of the Match.
08:16One trophy
08:18Man of the Series
08:20suddenly from low to high.
08:22From here to here.
08:28I was on top of my world.
08:30I was 29 years old.
08:32I was at the peak of my career.
08:34It was a dream.
08:38After that
08:42I was coughing a lot.
08:44We had a four month tour of England.
08:48The doctor told me
08:50that I was coughing a lot.
08:52He asked me to get a scan.
08:56I asked him what to do with the scan.
08:58I was having a lot of blood.
09:00I asked him what happened.
09:02He told me that I have to play for India.
09:12If
09:14if the soldiers can take the bullet
09:16then why can't we
09:18play with the blood.
09:22After that the doctor came
09:24in a very serious condition.
09:28He asked me to come inside the room.
09:30I went inside the room.
09:32I said yes.
09:36He asked me to get a scan.
09:38I got a scan.
09:42It was a scan of two lungs.
09:46On one of the lungs
09:48it was completely white.
09:50I couldn't see the lungs.
09:52It was completely white.
09:56I don't know how to get a scan.
09:58I told the doctor
10:00that on one side it was black and white
10:02and on the other side
10:04it was white.
10:06He told me that on the left lung
10:08I couldn't see anything.
10:10I had to get a
10:12biopsy done.
10:16I asked the doctor
10:18what the problem was.
10:20He told me that
10:22there was a tumor on the left lung.
10:26I asked the doctor
10:34what the problem was.
10:40I am an athlete.
10:44I practice 5-6 hours a day.
10:48I have a very healthy lifestyle.
10:50I eat well, drink well and sleep well.
10:54I can't have a tumor.
10:58He called my mother
11:00and told her that
11:02I have to get a biopsy done.
11:04I have to get a biopsy done.
11:06I have to get a biopsy done.
11:10The biopsy report came
11:12and the doctor said
11:14it's a tumor.
11:16Your son has cancer.
11:26He is lying.
11:32He is lying.
11:36I said I don't have a cancer.
11:38I am going to play.
11:40Anyways,
11:42I lied
11:44and went on a tour to play.
11:46After that,
11:48I couldn't play well.
11:52A family doctor
11:54went to
11:56the reports
11:58and called me.
12:00He said,
12:02Jivraj Singh,
12:04have you lost
12:06your mind?
12:08I said,
12:10son,
12:12you have
12:14only 3-6 months
12:16left
12:18of cancer.
12:22I said,
12:24Doctor,
12:30relax.
12:32I know
12:34what I am doing.
12:36These doctors
12:38don't know anything.
12:40I mean,
12:42doctors know
12:44but I think they don't know anything.
12:46It took me
12:48a year to accept
12:50that I have cancer.
12:52Anyways,
12:54I went through
12:56chemotherapy.
12:58Struggled a lot.
13:00I can't really say
13:04what the treatment was
13:06and how difficult it was.
13:08I started exercise
13:10but I became weak.
13:12My body,
13:14some kids were
13:16on wheelchairs.
13:18I said,
13:20I won't sit on wheelchairs.
13:22I won't sit on wheelchairs
13:24no matter how sick I get.
13:26After the third cycle,
13:28I had to sit on wheelchairs.
13:30But when I was going through that moment,
13:32I always thought that
13:34I will come back and play for India.
13:36The doctors said,
13:44if you survive,
13:48after 2 years,
13:50maybe after 2-3 years,
13:52you can start playing again.
13:56I said, hey doctor!
14:04I became a doctor.
14:06This is my opinion.
14:08Obviously,
14:10doctors know what he is doing.
14:12He is doing the right job.
14:14After 6 months,
14:16I came back and played for India.
14:26Guys,
14:28write your own
14:30life line.
14:32Anyways,
14:34I played for India
14:36in 6 months.
14:38I struggled.
14:40My body was not the same.
14:42Failures after failures.
14:44Failures after failures.
14:48Life had become about failures.
14:50Because everyone said,
14:52cricket career is over.
14:54Your career is over.
14:56Your body is not the same.
15:00So,
15:02I was struggling.
15:04There was a T20 World Cup
15:06in Sri Lanka.
15:08In T20 World Cup final,
15:10Yuvraj Singh
15:14scored 11 runs and 21 balls.
15:20Worst performance of my cricket career.
15:22When I came back to India,
15:24there was a lot of media
15:26out there.
15:28I was asked a lot of questions.
15:32Next day, in the paper,
15:36in the news,
15:38it was like,
15:40cricket career is over.
15:42Worst performance of his life.
15:44He is over.
15:46Pretty much.
15:48I was so devastated.
15:50I thought,
15:52my career is over.
15:54So,
16:00I came back home.
16:04So,
16:06I have two bats in my house.
16:08One is a 6-6 bat.
16:12And one is a 2011 World Cup
16:14Men of the Series bat.
16:20So,
16:22I looked at him and said,
16:26I think this is my achievement.
16:28So,
16:30I took out my India cap
16:32from my bag
16:34and kept it on the bats.
16:36I thought,
16:38this is it.
16:40I started playing again.
16:42Tendulkar told me,
16:50He said,
16:52one match
16:54cannot define your career.
16:58So,
17:00I started again.
17:02I started playing.
17:04I was about
17:0633-34.
17:10I played domestically.
17:14I made a lot of runs
17:16domestically that year.
17:18And after that,
17:20I made another name in the Indian team.
17:22I came back to one-day cricket
17:24after three years.
17:26Whereas,
17:28everyone said
17:30that he will never be able to come back.
17:38I made about
17:40800 runs in 5 domestic matches.
17:42After that, I came back.
17:44The first match
17:46with England.
17:48The second match with England,
17:50I made
17:52150 runs.
17:54Which was
17:58the best score of my one-day cricket.
18:06When everyone said that
18:08his career is over.
18:10After that, I made my highest one-day score.
18:16Because I never gave up.