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  • 5 days ago
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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Transcript
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.

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