India reaches yet another final. Now, being a cricket crazy country, India did not sleep the night before. The fans, the media. Everyone was on their feet. The expectations were growing and reaching the sky-high. Lesser did people knew there was someone else who couldn’t sleep the before night. There was something else that was growing as well. A clot.
It was pressing against lung and artery. Yuvraj Singh couldn’t breathe. He had a new visitor that was all set to take him to the hell. He was fighting it, unknowingly. He thought it was the nervousness before the final night. Everyone in the dressing room did. Sleeping pills didn’t help him either.
Yuvraj Singh knew something was wrong because, during the quarter-final, he had blood vomit on the field. Still, he did not care about it and was running to score runs, took the team home. One step closer to the final.
It was the biggest day of the Indian team’s career. Yuvraj Singh was a step closer to the hell. He couldn’t eat. He had only bread and walked out to bat. Minutes later, we had Dhoni finishing it off in style. Fast forward to the celebrations, Yuvraj Singh could see players running towards him. He couldn’t stop them. He was living the moment. Nobody knew what was happening but Yuvraj Singh that day could have died by the heart attack because of the pressure applied. He survived the moment. He survived. As he walked back, he was smiling because he kept up the promise he made to his idol, his God Sachin Tendulkar. He wanted to carry the man on his shoulders.
This day changed millions of lives forever. Especially, Yuvraj Singh’s.
Cancer. Therapy. Things went upside down. Still, he did. He conquered cancer. He walked through the hell but hey, as Eminem said, Kings never die. At least not this way. He came back. Showed that he is still capable of winning it from nowhere.
Yuvraj Singh loved it. He always loved to win things from nowhere. Do things that people can only imagine.
Years ago, Ganguly built an empire and proudly named Yuvraj Singh his man. Yuvraj Singh did what Ganguly wanted him to do. He batted, he bowled, picked up astonishing catches. Literally, everything. All Ganguly wanted from Yuvraj was to stand up for the team and he did every single time he had an opportunity.
Who can forget his partnership with Kaif at the Lord’s? The day India learnt how to chase targets. Once again, he was true to his master and stood tall. Possibly, the greatest moment of our life. It was also the day when India showed that they can give it back too.
Before Kohli could normalize the usage of rage to roar, Ganguly did it to Flintoff and Flintoff, once again was in the receiving side in the 2007 World Cup T20. His sledge fuelled Yuvraj Singh to get the maximum of the poor fellow Broad.
Dear Yuvi,
I cannot tell you how much I took inspiration from you in life. You hated losing. You hated to be on the receiving side. You won literally every single battle that you had. Even cancer. May be, cancer loved you just like all us, the fans. I mean, you were too good, too stylish. BTW, It is not easy to be you.
Maybe in the parallel universe, cancer did not exist. Maybe you kept entertaining us, winning us the World Cups.
I still miss watching those stylish stroke plays, the elegant power-hitting and most importantly, those flick shots.
I love you and thank you for everything. Happy 38.
