Yuvraj will be back in three weeks' time, says mother

New Delhi: Middle-order batsman Yuvraj Singh, who skipped the ongoing West Indies series due to a non-malignant lung tumour, would be fit to play competitive cricket in three weeks’ time, his mother said today. “The world will see a new Yuvraj on and off the field when he returns to cricket in 2-3 weeks. Yuvraj’s way of looking at life has changed. He has realised what he should do and what he should not. He was always a fighter but has become stronger and more brave. He has learnt so much in this time,” Yuvraj’s mother Shabnam Singh said. [caption id=“attachment_148526” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Yuvraj’s mother said her son had wanted to keep his illness a secret but had to reveal later as people would charge him for not being serious if he skipped the ongoing West Indies series without giving a reason. Getty Images”]  [/caption] Revealing the pain Yuvraj has been going through in the last six months due to a golf ball-sized tumour that was detected in his chest, Shabnam said, “Only he knows what he has gone through, how he has suffered. He knew it could have been so dangerous but he never shared his pain. It will take time to heal. There is no option but to face it.” Shabnam said her son had wanted to keep his illness a secret but had to reveal later as people would charge him for not being serious if he skipped the ongoing West Indies series without giving a reason. “Yuvraj is angry with me because he did not want anyone to pity him. He wants to be known as a player who played for his country. Then I said it is better that the world knows what he is going through or they will again say he is not serious (by deciding not to play this series),” Shabnam said. “If they see him with a fan or someone else, they will say he has an affair. They will say he is enjoying himself so I said the world should know what he is going through and he is unwell. I asked my Guruji and he said it’s OK to tell the world. Yuvi said everyone will ask him questions but I said if you don’t play and not disclose the reason there will be more questions,” she told ‘News 24’. She also revealed that Yuvraj did not want even her to know that he had tumour. “Yuvraj did not want to tell me about the tumour. His friend called me to say ’the news is not good. Yuvi doesn’t want you to know but I am telling you because as a mother you should know’,” she said. “These five months have been the most difficult for Yuvi and me. He got to know 5-6 days after IPL-4. He was ill earlier as well but we thought it’s stress related since he was playing the World Cup and then the IPL. He had a bad throat and was vomiting earlier but we never thought it could be serious,” she added. According to Shabnam, Yuvraj shared the news of his illness with very few people. “Yuvi told his close friends and some top BCCI officials about the tumour. He told Sachin, Zaheer and Harbhajan. Sachin is God to him. He talks to Sachin whenever he has any problem with his batting. Dhoni is also a good fiend but Yuvi’s rapport with Sachin is something else,” she said. Yuvraj did not play in the ODI series in England this summer due to a finger injury and Shabnam said that he was really disappointed at that. “When he returned from England, he was really disappointed. He used to get depressed watching his teammates play. I used to bring him the World Cup man of the tournament trophy and keep it in front of him. I said to him how many people have won this,” she said. PTI