Yuvraj Singh discusses his fight against cancer with 'Humans of Bombay'

Mumbai: Yuvraj Singh has had a memorable career in international cricket. Arguably the biggest highlight of his career was then he hit six sixes off a Stuart Broad over in the 2007 ICC World T20 against England.

While it took a lot of hard work for Yuvraj to get to the top, the southpaw discussed how he got into the sport, in an interview with popular Facebook page ‘Humans of Bombay’.

The 34-year-old was into a number of sports, and had even won a medal in skating. However, it was Yuvraj’s father, who urged him to take up cricket.

“I understand you can’t study but if you love sports so much at least take one that can get you somewhere…focus on cricket,” Yuvraj recalls his father telling him.

His dream of playing for India finally started to take place, when he won the 2000 Under 19 World Cup with India, being named as the player of the tournament, in the process.

“I remember at that point, I would watch Tendulkar and Ganguly on my television set and know on every fibre of my being that someday I would be out there playing with them— I felt it, I knew it; I believed it,” said Singh.

However, it has not always been hunky-dory for the southpaw. Like any athlete, Singh has also had low points in his career, when his form deserted him. “One cannot always live up to the expectations when a nation of 1.2 billion people wants you to win every single game,” he said about his darker days.

In what was the darkest time of his career, Yuvraj Singh was diagnosed with stage-1 lung cancer. However, the 34-year-old said that it was his willingness to fight, that helped him beat cancer, and get back to the playing field.

“When life knocks down you have a choice — to get up. So I thought to myself -‘get up and do it again’,” he said.