Told to rest for 10-15 days; will plan his cricketing return after that.
Sporting a black jacket and a red cap, Yuvraj Singh came out of Indira Gandhi International Airport terminal flashing a victory sign, showing his eagerness to get back to the cricket field.
Walking a few steps behind his mother Shabnam Singh, the man-of-the-series for India in the 2011 World Cup landed here in the Jet Air’s 9.45am flight on Monday amidst the huge media assembly outside Terminal 3 of the airport. However, when he actually came out of the building around 10.30am, he just waved to the huge crowd but refused bytes to all television cameras waiting there for close to two hours.
Yuvi waved and smiled but the way he walked towards his white SUV Audi, it was pretty evident that his strides lacked the same pace which cricket fans have witnessed on field for so many years.
However, his silence didn’t distract the media persons as almost everyone assembled at the airport diligently followed his SUV till his home in Gurgaon. The first words that Yuvraj whispered after getting down from his vehicle were “Gobhi ke paranthey”. He was asked what his mother has prepared for him in lunch.
The only notable absentee at the airport was Yuvraj’s father and former India speedster Yograj Singh. Later, Yograj confirmed that he had deliberately kept himself away as he wants to meet his son in person. “I want to meet Yuvraj in person where there is no one else except for him, me and God. I didn’t want to do it publicly.”
After reaching home, it was the turn of his mother Shabnam to speak to the media and she took no time to declare that her son is “absolutely fine.” He has been advised 10-15 days of rest before he could plan any kind of return to the game. “These were tough three months. But we are happy that he is back. It’s like we have won the World Cup again,” said Yuvi’s mother. The southpaw was diagnosed with a type of cancer called “mediastinal seminoma” in February, a germ-cell tumour located between his lungs.
Yuvi finished the last cycle of chemo in mid-March and then left for London and spent days there to avoid any kind of infection. “He will have to be very careful about infections till the time his body recovers completely,” a family friend said.
Yuvraj, who has now invited the media on Wednesday for formal interaction, preferred to stay on his residence’s balcony and thanked everyone for their prayers and wishes. According to family sources, Yuvi has no plans to return to competitive cricket in the near future and will answer all the queries about his future plans and details of treatment on Wednesday.
He has been out of action since November when he last played a Test against the West Indies. However his last ODI was the World Cup final against Sri Lanka on April 2, 2011.
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