“Yuvi pa said, ‘nahi, main khelunga, unko bol do’” - S Sreesanth recalls Yuvraj refusing to retire despite spitting blood during 2011 World Cup game

Former India fast bowler S Sreesanth has opened up on an incident from the 2011 World Cup wherein Yuvraj Singh refused to retire during a game even though he was spitting some blood out in the middle. The incident occurred during the India vs West Indies clash in Chennai.

Yuvraj had a brilliant 2011 World Cup, scoring 362 runs and claiming 15 wickets as India lifted the covered ICC trophy. The former all-rounder was deservedly picked as Player of the Tournament for his stupendous all-round showing.

It was revealed after the tournament that Yuvraj played the World Cup with illness, often coughing blood. Later, tests confirmed that he was suffering from cancer, a disease he overcame to make a comeback to international cricket.

In an interaction with Sportskeeda, Sreesanth recalled how Yuvraj went against team management’s advice and carried on batting against West Indies during the 2011 World Cup despite suffering from ill health.

“When he was playing against West Indies, he was literally spitting blood in between. Gary Kirsten and everyone said that he should retire. But, when I went in with water, Yuvi pa said, ‘nahi, main khelunga, unko bol do’ [No I will play, you tell them],” Sreesanth said.

Yuvraj, who turned 42 on Tuesday, December 12, went on to score 113 off 123 balls as the Men in Blue put up 268 batting first. He also claimed two wickets with his left-arm spin to be named Player of the Match as the Windies were bowled out for 188.

Sreesanth also hailed Yuvraj as a fighter for making a brilliant comeback to international cricket after overcoming cancer even as many doubted that he could return to the game after his illness.

“After fighting an issue like cancer, when he was coming back from the NCA, many people had said that he would not been able to make a comeback. But the kind of comeback he made, it was unbelievable,” the former cricketer said.

Although Yuvraj could not regain the consistency of his prime following his return to international cricket, he did play some memorable knocks in the last few years of his career.

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“While playing for India, I enjoyed the most with Yuvraj” - Sreesanth

Apart from praising him for being a brilliant cricketer, Sreesanth also hailed Yuvraj as a fine human being. Narrating an endearing incident of when the latter gave a young Sreesanth his mobile number despite being a superstar, the 40-year-old recalled:

“An international cricketer gave me his number. He asked me for my phone, but I told him that my phone is no good, so please give me your number. And he gave it to me. All these are my biggest memories. While playing for India, I enjoyed the most with Yuvraj. I got to learn a lot about life and cricket. Learnt a lot from him.”

Yuvraj had a stellar ODI career. He played 304 one-dayers, scoring 8,701 runs at an average of 36.55 and a strike rate of 87.67 with 14 hundreds and 52 fifties.