Yuvraj superman of Indian cricket: Kapil

[1]

Cancer is one word that arouses dread in one and all. Yograj Singh, father of Yuvraj who has made a stunning comeback to Test cricket battling germ cell cancer, cringes when he reads that his son beat the odds to be back on the field.

“When Yuvraj was undergoing treatment for cancer, he called and said he was suffering from the disease. I shot back and told him `shame on you if you're telling me you're ill'.

Yuvraj is a strong boy and nothing can finish him,“ said Yograj at the launch of Yuvi, a biography on Yuvraj by veteran cricket columnist and administrator, Makarand Waingankar, here on Tuesday.

The function, attended by Kapil Dev, Dilip Vengsarkar, Balwinder Singh Sandhu, Milind Rege and an array of Mumbai Ranji players, witnessed the former greats shar ing anecdotes of Yuvraj’s testing two-month long stay in Mumbai as a 15-year-old cricketer and his father’s strict regimen. “God creates human beings and he also creates superman. The book written by Waingankar is on the superman of India,” said Kapil.

World Cup-winning captain hoped the all-rounder would establish himself in Tests. “I want him to play well in Tests. He still has to establish himself in the longest format.” Vengsarkar, under whose reign as the chief selector Yuvraj scored his last of the three centuries in Test cricket in a 10-year-long career, believed injuries have hampered Yuvraj’s career.

“He has struck two outstanding tons in Pakistan. When I was the chief selector, I included him in the Test team and he hit 169 in Bangalore against Pakistan in 2007, which I think is one of the finest innings on Indian soil but injuries hurt his career.