CRICBUZZ REWIND 'Let's get the World Cup, everything else can wait' R Kaushik Share Tweet

2011 was Yuvraj Singh's most painful and yet pleasurable chapter of his cricketing life ©Getty

Country, team, self. Country, team, self. Country. Team. Self. Repeat.

This was the mantra Yuvraj Singh lived by throughout the 43 days of the 2011 World Cup.

So, what's the big deal, right? Isn't that what team sport, by its very definition, dictates? Especially when the occasion is as massive as the World Cup, the stage erected in front of adoring, admiring, unforgiving home fans for whom tryst with history was a mere formality?

The 'big deal' lay in the unflinching fight Yuvraj launched against his ailing, protesting body. The fight wasn't against the aches and pains commonplace in professional sport. It wasn't against a visible injury that would heal with aggressive treatment and rigorous rehabilitation. As subsequent tests would confirm, it had been a fight with cancer. And what a fight it was, too.

Even today, nine years after the most painful and yet pleasurable chapter of his cricketing life, the emotions come flooding back as Yuvraj reflects on that incredulous, yet all-too-real journey.

***

Yuvraj had had an extremely challenging couple of months leading up to the World Cup. Nine One-Day International innings had produced just a solitary fifty; more notably, he had broken his wrist, fractured his fingers, and therefore been in and out of the team.

The first signs that he might have a non-cricketing fight on his hands came in South Africa towards the middle of January. By then already grappling with insomnia and prolonged bouts of rasping cough, Yuvraj spat out blood the night before the second ODI against South Africa, in Johannesburg on January 15. There was no outward sign of discomfort as he eased to 53 the following day; internally, the alarm bells had started to clatter.

"Mahi (MS Dhoni) and I ran twos off two successive deliveries. By the fourth run, I was barely able to breathe," Yuvraj recalls. "After the game, I told the physio (Nitin Patel) about my breathing issues, and he suggested that we get it checked. I convinced him that we should put it off till we went back to India."

Upon return home, the World Cup preparatory camp kicked off in Bengaluru. Yuvraj knew something was drastically wrong, but shied away from medical confirmation. "What you don't know doesn't hurt you," he chuckles. "My only thought was, let's get the World Cup out of the way. Let's get the World Cup. Everything else can wait."

It was impossible for his mates not to be aware of his coughing and dashes to the washroom to throw up. Everyone put it down to situational stress, a belief further reinforced by Yuvraj's outwardly nonchalance that masked the struggles against an unseen, as-yet-unidentified enemy.

Yuvraj knew something was drastically wrong when the World Cup preparatory camp kicked off ©Getty

Yuvraj's World Cup campaign got off to a quiet start. Not required to bat in the 87-run pounding of Bangladesh in the tournament opener, his fluent 58 was relegated to a sideshow as Sachin Tendulkar, Andrew Strauss and Zaheer Khan hogged the limelight in the next game at the Chinnaswamy Stadium where the hosts and England played out a memorable tie. In those two games combined, Yuvraj also had figures of none for 88 from 14 overs. No signs yet that this was the man who would emerge the Player of the Tournament five weeks on.

Yuvraj exploded to life exactly a week later, also at the Chinnaswamy. His left-arm spin yielded five for 31 as Ireland were bowled out for 207. India found themselves in a spot at 100 for four when he made a measured 50 not out, the first of three half-centuries and a hundred in five innings. Having announced himself thus, he turned in all-round displays in victories against the Netherlands (New Delhi - 2 for 43 and 51*) and West Indies (Chennai - 113 and 2 for 18). Between these two games, though, India suffered a setback as they went down by 3 wickets to South Africa in Nagpur, a result that attracted widespread criticism while simultaneously steeling the collective resolve of the side.

"When we lost to South Africa, there was a change of attitude within the team," Yuvraj reveals. "I remember we were nearly 270 (268) for two in 40 overs and we got only 50 or so runs from there." India were bowled out for 296 in the last over and even though they gave it their all on the park, South Africa squeaked home with three wickets in hand. "Gary (Kirsten, the coach) and Sachin (Tendulkar) spoke the most at the team meeting at the end of the game. Their message was clear -- from now on, we'll focus only on what lies ahead. No one is going to watch television, nobody is going to read newspapers. If you go out in public, put on your headphones, cut out the white noise, stay away from distractions. Our first loss in the World Cup, and we were roundly and heavily criticised for losing a game we should have won. That result shook us up; as a group, we wanted to focus on going forward in the World Cup, rather than looking back."

India had more than a week to lick their wounds from the South Africa misadventure, and responded magnificently by brushing West Indies aside by 80 runs in Chennai to seal their place in the quarter-final. Their reward? A shot at Australia, winners of the last three editions and unbeaten in World Cup play for 34 straight games between 1999 and 2011 before losing to Pakistan in their final league fixture.

"Obviously, reaching the quarter-final was our first aim. Once we achieved that, the road ahead would only get tougher," says Yuvraj. "We knew Australia would be a massive hurdle. We hadn't beaten them in a 50-over World Cup game in a very long time (five straight losses from 1992). The match was in Ahmedabad, where the pitch was on the slower side; the general belief was that it would help our team because we had very good spinners. But at that time, Australia - whether you give them a slow wicket, fast wicket, grassy wicket, they had the players to deliver. For ten years, they were at the peak. We knew it was going to be a very difficult game, it was going to be about handling pressure - the pressure of a quarter-final, of playing in front of your home crowd, where everybody is expecting you to win. Those were pretty hectic times."

As anticipated, it was a stirring clash of the titans. Ricky Ponting, who had had a fairly unremarkable tournament with a top score of 36 in five innings, rose to the occasion with a captain's knock of 104, propelling his team to 260 for six on opting to bat.

"I always felt that in the big games, there was more pressure chasing," Yuvraj offers. "Ricky had not scored too many runs in the World Cup but under pressure, he scored a great hundred, he stood up for their country. Somebody had to stand up for our country, and I decided it would have to be me. 260 was a good total on that pitch because the ball was turning and it was not easy to score runs once the ball got old. I had had a good outing with the ball, so I carried that confidence into my batting as well.

"Sachin and Gautam (Gambhir) had a good partnership, Virat (Kohli) chipped in. While they were fighting it out in the middle, I was fighting the urge to throw up every ball. There was the anxiety of the situation, the pressure of the match. Second, I was clearly not well. I was unable to keep anything down; I threw up whatever I ate, and made constant trips to the bathroom, hoping my team-mates wouldn't notice. It's hard for me to explain what it was like; my brain was all over the place.

"But the moment I walked in when Virat got out, I was totally switched on. I had been batting very well, I just wanted to spend time in the middle. Whatever the situation, I told myself, don't hurry your thoughts. Batting with Gauti, however, was very hectic. Gauti and Viru (Sehwag), when they bat, they want to take a run off every ball. I was thinking, 'My God, how can he expect me to run like that?' I think everybody would have predicted the mix-up due to which Gautam got run out. The pressure was obviously building. After a few runs, Mahi got out; as he we was walking past me, he said 'Shabash, Yuvi'. It took me a while to realise what he meant. I was like 'thanks, obviously no pressure'. Basically, he meant Shabash, now you take us home.

Yuvraj Singh's all-round efforts helped India overcome a strong Australia in the quarter-final ©Getty

"Mahi and I had had so many big partnerships, we had batted together so many times, but never had he got out before me. This was a first. And in walked (Suresh) Raina, who was playing his first match of the tournament. It couldn't have been easy for him. I walked away to one side and told myself that I was not going to hit the ball in the air, no matter what. I was not going to hook or pull in the air. From the first ball, I just stuck to that plan. Raina hit a six and a four off (Brett) Lee and that took some pressure off me because runs started to come from both ends. The Australians were chirping and trying to wind up Raina, and I told him, 'It's important that we focus on our batting. Let us not get into an argument. Let them say whatever they want to say, they know we are in front and trying to unsettle us.' We got through the tough period, me just playing in the 'V' and not taking any risk because I knew I could cover up (the asking rate) in the end if required.

"All those thoughts of the 2003 World Cup where we lost to Australia in the final came flooding back, I was like this is our opportunity to beat them. And I was trying to get away from those thoughts, trying to focus on each ball. I had been batting well in the tournament, I had got momentum. In my career, every time I would get momentum, I would score runs throughout the tournament. I was in good flow but not in good flow with my health.

"One of the best moments of my cricketing career was when I hit that winning boundary (off Lee) and sank to the floor. It was an amazing moment personally," Yuvraj, who remained unbeaten on 57 that night, chokes up a little. "We had crossed a really big hurdle in our march towards the title. When we reached the quarters, we were like 50% away from the trophy and when we won that game, I felt we were 80% there. I know a higher pressure game (against Pakistan) awaited us in the semis, but the reason I felt upbeat was because no one was as good as the Australians under pressure. In big matches, once they got an opening, they'd crush the opposition. I had been wary of that. Once we got past them, I felt we were in a really good position to go all the way."

***

For all his heroics on the park, Yuvraj's health was gradually deteriorating. "I was coughing, trying to hide the blood coming out of my mouth, making sure nobody else knew," he tries desperately to steel his voice. "The blood that came out at the time was very minor, only I could make out. I'd either pour water or it or crush it under my feet before the umpire took his position. The West Indies game had been a lot worse, but I was just ignoring the symptoms because it was very important that we focus on the task ahead.

"I was having a lot of sleepless nights. The physio, the trainer, the masseur - they would all come every night to my room to put me to sleep. One would press my feet, one would press my head. But I would still have lot of sleeping issues. My heart rate was very irregular, probably because of the tumour growing between my lung and my heart. One minute my heart would be pounding, the next moment the rate would be very slow. It was tough to overlook it, but I chose to. I had to."

But why would he keep something like that to himself? Why not tell the physio, the coach, his buddies? "Because I didn't want the additional pressure on anyone else or on myself," he answers, almost before the question is completed. "I didn't want to get tested only to find that I had some issue and therefore had to decide whether to play cricket or go for treatment. I didn't want to have to take that decision, so it was best for me to not know what was wrong. I told myself I'd fix whatever it was after the World Cup.

"There were times when it was hard, when you felt a bit lonely - not able to sleep, not sure what was going on. My body was not responding the way I wanted it to. When you play for so many years, you get used to pain. You think pain is part of the journey, it's something you can always overcome. But this pain was something else - I was just praying that hopefully one day, I will overcome it."

While he failed with the bat, Yuvraj Singh delivered with the ball in the semi-final ©Getty

There was a five-day gap between the quarters and the semis, enough time for the tension to build, for the big match to build to a crescendo. Those five days, Yuvraj concedes, were a bit of a blur, given where he was at physically. Sleep continued to be a missing ally, food hardly stayed down. As the cricket world held its collective breath in frenzied anticipation, the central figure of the competition was quietly waging a lonely war.

"The day of the match was total chaos. I barely slept the night before, and when I ordered breakfast in my room, it eventually arrived an hour and a half later," he chuckles. "Only, it wasn't what I had ordered. I checked the tag and found that it someone else's order; I wheeled the trolley to his room and profusely apologized for the further delay.

"By the time breakfast did come, it was time to leave for the ground. The prime ministers of Pakistan and India, as well as other big names, had come to Chandigarh for the match, and when we boarded the bus, we were instructed to draw the blinds and stay in our own cocoon. A lot of the guys had their breakfast at our meeting upon reaching the stadium. Just as well, because with the tightened security, our lunch didn't reach the dressing-room."

After Dhoni chose to bat, Sehwag got India off to a cracking start, but from 116 for one, things started to unravel. Kohli was dismissed for nine, Yuvraj was cleaned up first ball by Wahab Riaz, who was getting the ball to reverse. "The whole of Punjab, it seems, had converged at the PCA Stadium. I have never heard such a roar when I went out to bat," Yuvraj reflects. "It was amazing how quiet the crowd went when I was bowled. Pakistan just couldn't get Sachin out, they dropped him four times, I think. That's when I felt it was going to be our game. Raina again batted sensibly towards the end and we got to 260, the same score Australia had posted in our quarters. It may not look huge, but it was a pretty good total in a very high-pressure game that was less about cricket and more about emotion.

"Our fast bowlers, Munaf (Patel), Zak (Zaheer Khan) and Ashu (Nehra) gave nothing away, bowled really good lengths, and when I took the catch at point to dismiss Kamran Akmal, the momentum shifted. I came on to bowl a little later and got Asad Shafiq and Younis Khan in quick succession. Younis and Misbah (ul-Haq) were perhaps their best batsmen, and once Younis fell, they couldn't find any momentum. There was immense pressure on Pakistan; the need was small partnerships but they all went for big shots, which was good for us because we kept picking up wickets. Bhajji packed off (Shahid) Afridi and Misbah was left with no support as we won comfortably in the end.

"It was a massive victory under pressure, fashioned by a total team effort. The fielding was top-class and we fed off the atmosphere at the ground. To the delight of the rest of the guys, we got some food after the game. Personally, I felt like my body was on the verge of shutting down. My only thought was, 'one more game before all this is over'.

***

The final was a mere two days away, one of which was spent travelling to the country's financial capital. Yuvraj finally got some sleep two nights before the big day, so much so that when he woke up, it was 11 in the morning. When the practice session was scheduled for 10 am! "I totally panicked, quickly got ready and somehow reached the ground at 11.30. Mentally, I was prepared for a ribbing from my team-mates and a lashing from the coach - how can one be late for practice the day before the World Cup final? But when I reached the Wankhede, there was an eerie calm," Yuvraj says softly, disbelievingly.

"Everyone was in his own bubble, no one even noticed me. I walked up to Gary and apologized, but he brushed it away. He was aware of my sleep issues, so he called Nitin and asked him if he could give me an injection in the night to help me sleep well. Nitin said that wasn't an option, it might leave me groggy and in no position to play the final.

"To the outside world, victory against Sri Lanka might have seemed a formality, but we knew their pedigree. They had won the 1996 edition, reached the final in 2007 and were in the final again now, so they must be doing something right to make so many finals and ace at least one of them. We couldn't afford to be complacent, not at this stage."

***

2 April, 2011. Confusion at the toss necessitated a second spin of the coin - 'Bizarre, never seen anything like it' - and Sri Lanka batted after Kumar Sangakkara called right. "We were a bit disappointed, you don't want to chase in a World Cup final, but we started brilliantly with the ball. We were also excellent on the field; in the first six overs itself, we saved a lot of boundaries and by my estimation, we were at least 25-plus on the field. I got Sanga and Thilan (Samaraweera); the latter was a particular success because I convinced a reluctant Mahi to go for the DRS. But Mahela (Jayawardene) was exceptional. Stunning hundred under the circumstances, we went for a few at the death and ended up conceding 274. Worth many more, given what was at stake."

India lost Sehwag and Tendulkar to Lasith Malinga inside the first seven overs. "You could hear a pin drop when Tendulkar got out, the crowd sensed that the cup was slipping away. But Gauti was so good that night, and he and Virat stitched together a good partnership. By then, all three of their off-spinners (Muttiah Muralitharan, Suraj Randiv and Tillakaratne Dilshan) had come on to bowl. Mahi, Gary and Sachin had a discussion on whether it was better for the right-handed Mahi to go in at the fall of a wicket because of the off-spinners, and when that decision was made, I was relieved that I didn't have to go out to bat next.

Yuvraj was at the non-striker's end when MS Dhoni hit the winning six in the final ©Getty

"I charged into the bathroom, knelt in front of the commode and threw up for the nth time that night. Then, I settled down to watch Mahi in action. Throughout the World Cup, that guy didn't miss a single session of batting, a single practice session. He hadn't got the returns till then but I knew that for all the work he had put in, he deserved something special. At the other end, Gauti was perfection. He was a very good player of spin, his footwork against the off-spinners was exceptional. I don't think had I been batting, my footwork would have been that good. There was a bit of dew, the ball was coming nicely on to the bat and Mahi too got into his rhythm."

With victory a little over 50 runs away and a century for the taking, Gambhir charged Thisara Perera and was bowled. "I don't know what was going on in Gauti's mind that he stepped out on 97. He is such a nervous bunny in the 90s, he just wants to get out of the 90s quickly," Yuvraj guffaws. "Anyway, the stage was set when I went in. The crowd was going Vande Mataram, I had goosebumps all over.

"It was fitting that Mahi hit that six (off Nuwan Kulasekara) -- I thought he should be the one to finish the game because he had batted brilliantly that night. As the ball disappeared, I was overcome with relief, elation, I don't know what all...A nation's dream had come true. You lost a World Cup final in 2003. The next one, you don't make it to the second round. You can't even go home because someone is throwing stones at your home. Eventually, we come back home and win the championship. It was destiny. We were very happy we could do it for Sachin, in his last World Cup. Nobody deserved it more than him."

Yuvraj was the Player of the Tournament for his spectacular all-round deeds - 362 runs to go with 15 wickets ©Getty

Before Dhoni received the World Cup trophy from ICC president Sharad Pawar, Yuvraj walked up to collect the Player of the Tournament award for his spectacular all-round deeds - 362 runs at 90.50 to go with 15 wickets at 25.13 and an economy of 5.02.

"I don't know how to describe it. I thought about my personal battles -- I was really struggling with my body and obviously could not breathe with my left lung, it had nearly collapsed. I consciously focused on the tournament than on my health because I felt the country needed the World Cup. And we all players needed it for ourselves, we felt that we deserved as a unit to win the World Cup because we had the best players. We wanted us to experience the feeling of what a World Cup win is like.

"As for the being best player of the World Cup, it is just a special feeling. Having that trophy in your hand...But the reaction of the crowd, the joy of the people, the look on Tendulkar's face, the joy of my teammates, those moments were bigger than me holding this trophy. Yes, to win the man of the tournament in a World Cup triumph is a dream come true, but there are a lot of other special memories attached to it.

"Carrying the World Cup Trophy and seeing Tendulkar, it was like the whole of India was carrying him on their shoulders. My personal success was only number three in the list of achievements -- after the World Cup victory for the country, and seeing Tendulkar being carried around the park."

Having had plenty of time to reflect on the events of that golden period nine years back, Yuvraj is convinced a greater force had propelled him during the tournament. "I do feel it was a miracle. I had a lot of inner strength to persist in that moment and not break down because it was the biggest tournament in our lives. I had the blessings of a lot of people. I remember every time I went to the Gurudwara, everyone who was there touched my bat. I had the blessings of a lot of people.

"Even today, every time I need to shed a tear, I go back and watch the highlights," he laughs. "They are very special moments. They are not going to come back in our lives again but we did it. It was destined that we would do it."

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