'He Used to Cough And Sometimes Puke, We Made Fun of Him': Former India Star Recalls Yuvraj Singh's Battle With Cancer During World Cup

Yuvraj Singh was the player-of-the-tournament as India became the ODI World champions after a gap of 28 years in 2011. What turned his performance into stuff of legends was when it was revealed Yuvraj was battling cancer during the gruelling tournament.

Now 12 years after the iconic moment when MS Dhoni struck that six in the final of the world cup at Wankhede Stadium to seal India’s historic win, Harbhajan Singh has recalled how the teammates who were unaware of Yuvraj’s condition made fun of him since he used to consistently cough.

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“Yuvraj was unwell and he used to face anxiety before matches," said on Star Sports.  “Even while batting he used to cough, sometimes puke. I used to ask him ‘why do you cough so much? Look at your age and what are you doing!’ But we didn’t know what he’s going through, and he played the World Cup during that illness."

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“Later he found out those were signs of cancer. But then we were making fun of him as we were not aware of the situation, but hats off to the champion," he added.

Four years before his ODI world cup heroics, Yuvraj had also starred in India’s World T20 triumph in South Africa. His six sixes in an over of England’s Stuart Broad, a blazing 30-ball 70 against Australia in the semifinals are one of the greatest performances in the history of the tournament.

“Not once but twice he helped us win the World Cup," said Harbhajan referring to India’s title win at the inaugural ICC World T20 in 2007.

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Harbhajan even claimed that if Yuvraj wasn’t part of 2011 ODI World Cup squad India wouldn’t have won the title.

“I feel India wouldn’t have won the World Cup in 2011 if Yuvraj Singh wasn’t there. A player like Yuvraj was not there in the past, or now as they are one of a kind." Bhajji said.

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