Yuvraj Singh, India’s hero of 2011 World Cup talked about his experience of playing in the tournament. Physically Yuvraj was not well at that time and he had to take a lot of pressure. Talking about this the southpaw said, “Yes, I was not doing well, I was coughing blood. It had started even on the South Africa tour before the World Cup. But I had to put the country first.”
Yuvraj was talking in Salaam Cricket summit organised by news channel ‘Aaj Tak’, further added, “I suppose when you’re an athlete, you train, you eat well, you think nothing bad can happen to you. You tend to ignore these symptoms, which is not the right thing to do. Health is the most important thing that can happen to anyone. Even as you were going through all this, you were playing one of the most important tournaments of the sport. How did you do it? Did you think you would make that kind of an impact?”
“I had a wrist fracture, a broken neck, and three-four other serious injuries before the World Cup, but I knew it’s a matter of one innings when things will turn around. The fifty against England turned things around. Scoring three back-to-back fifties as well as picking important wickets made things work. I thought you were there to do a job, so you need to do well. How many players get to play a single World Cup? I got to play three, so I decided to make the most out of it.”
Talking about his innings against West Indies, where he was vomiting multiple times on the pitch, Yuvi said, “I first thought it was because of the Chennai heat. I always wanted a World Cup hundred, which never happened because I had batted at 6. But Viru opted out of the World Cup, so I decided to make it big. I prayed to God that whatever happens, even if I die afterwards, let India win the World Cup.”
According to the southpaw, he has no regret of taking a risk with his body for the World Cup. “I have no regret [taking a huge risk to own body] as I won the World Cup. Given another chance I would have done the same. It was a terrible feeling when I got to know of cancer after World Cup. It was like falling from the highest mountain to a ditch.
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