Yuvraj Singh is a winner who never quit

<b>What is stronger, fear or hope?</b>
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<i>--Lance Armstrong (It's Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life)</i>
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During his battle with a rare germ cell cancer, Yuvraj Singh had often mentioned Lance Armstrong and his book ‘It's Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life’. One of the most compelling comeback stories in sports fraternity, Armstrong’s fight has been an inspiration for many, and for Yuvraj as well.
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Less than a year after the World Cup, Man of the Tournament Yuvraj Singh was all over the news, the news of a malignant tumour between his lungs was gut-wrenching but here he is now six months later, all set to wield his bat and don the Indian blues for the first time since that historic World Cup final.
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He had feared for his life during that abominable phase and yet he hoped to play for India again.
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<b>‘Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.’</b>
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<i>-- Stephen King, The Shawshank Redemption </i>
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And Yuvi has now truly showed that hope is probably one of the stronger things around as well.
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A man of his talent, with the panache matched by none, Yuvraj Singh was bound to make it big in the international arena and from the time of his debut in 2000, a World Cup victory would definitely have been the high point he was waiting for. It happened, like a playwright’s absolute theatrical.
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2nd April 2011 became The ‘Blue’ lettered day and right in middle of all the glory, there was Yuvraj Singh. Little did he or we know that the glory and the delight came at a price for this Chandigarh-born star.
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Throughout the tournament, Yuvraj had trouble digesting his food, he had trouble breathing, he was coughing blood, he was in pain. Each match-winning knock of his was celebrated, was cherished, but behind it all, something was not right, yet he carried on. That is what Yuvraj Singh is – or as a matter of fact – that is what every athlete representing his country is.
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<b>“Pain is temporary. Quitting lasts forever.”</b>
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<i>--Lance Armstrong (It's Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life)</i>
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In the London Olympics, Manteo Mitchell, 4x400-meter relay runner of USA broke his leg while running the preliminaries in the first 200m; he heard a pop yet he continued and with a broken leg competed in the 400m and helped USA reach the final. Doctors later confirmed that Mitchell had run 200m with a broken fibula. A broken fibula is a pain and representing your country and quitting is much worse. Yuvraj Singh, in his hard times during the World Cup must have felt similar. He did not quit.
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Being named in the 15-member squad for the World T20 is just a beginning, another one for Yuvraj Singh. The likes of Lance Armstrong and Martina Navratilova are looked at with utmost respect as they fought cancer and excelled further in their sports.
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Wish Yuvraj does the same.
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Like Lance was an inspiration to Yuvraj, Yuvraj will be an inspiration to many. Winners are not those who never fail, but those who never quit. And to call Yuvraj Singh a winner would just be an understatement.