Yuvraj Singh credits Sachin Tendulkar for pushing him to play cricket again after cancer

Former Indian cricketer Yuvraj Singh was one of the architects of India’s triumphant run at the 2011 World Cup. Widely regarded as one of the greatest all-rounders of all time, it was later revealed that he had played the entire 2011 World Cup battling with cancer. After the Yuvraj Singh cancer treatment, the cricketer made a return into the Indian team but remained in and out of the side in the last few years of his career.

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‘Why do we play cricket?’ – Yuvraj Singh recalls Sachin Tendulkar’s words that inspired him

In a recent interview with Sportskeeda, Yuvraj Singh revealed that there were “ups and downs” in his career post his cancer treatment but it was Sachin Tendulkar who helped him during this period. According to the former all-rounder, his ex-teammate inspired him to make a return to international cricket with some words of encouragement. Yuvraj Singh said that he kept speaking with Sachin Tendulkar, who once told him ‘Why do we play cricket? Yes, we want to play international but we play for the love of the sport’.

The two-time World Cup-winning cricketer further recalled Sachin Tendulkar’s words when the Master Blaster told him that he should continue playing the game if he loves it. Singh added that the veteran batsman also told him about retirement being something which he should decide for himself instead of letting others decide it for him. After Sachin Tendulkar’s advice, he stated that he resorted to playing domestic cricket for a while in a bid to get into contention for a comeback into the national side.

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Yuvraj Singh cancer treatment followed by a brief career

Yuvraj Singh admitted that after his treatment from cancer, his body did not remain the same. The former cricketer made a few comebacks and played the 2014 T20 World Cup in Bangladesh where India lost in the final. He said that upon his comeback, he still managed to register his highest ODI score (150 vs England in 2016) and has now moved on from his playing days.

Yuvraj Singh’s career at a glance

The Punjab-born cricketer was an integral member of India’s 2007 T20 World Cup and 2011 Cricket World Cup winning line-ups. From his debut to his final appearance in 2017, Yuvraj Singh played 40 Tests, 304 ODIs and 58 T20Is. Across all international innings, he scored 11,787 runs and bagged 148 wickets.

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