‘We struggled to hold back tears’

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Yuvraj Singh returned to international cricket after winning the fight against cancer

For cricketer Yuvraj Singh’s mother Shabnam Singh, the last few days have been nothing short of a roller-coaster ride.

Yuvraj’s return to international cricket after a gap of nine months was a moment of celebration for many, but for Shabnam, it was “a time when the mother and son struggled to hold back their tears”.
“It was something we had been waiting for,” said Shabnam, who travelled to Chennai for the second India-New Zealand T20 match to see her son back on the field again.
“Yuvraj was sitting next to me when he had got a call from the Indian cricket board informing him of his selection in the T20 team against New Zealand. He disconnected and began to cry. He was overwhelmed by the thought of wearing the India jersey again. I was in tears too. The last two years have been very tough on us, and it was a just reward,” said Shabnam, who was by Yuvraj’s side when he battled cancer and its terrible side effects.
“For a mother, it’s never easy to see her child suffering, vomiting blood or crying for hours. I have seen Yuvi through all that pain and months of suffering. And every night, I would fight back my own tears. So in comparison, this wait was nothing. But yes, both of us were excited and nervous at the same time. Yuvraj was very sad at India losing the game that day and said he should have finished the game. But he won a very crucial battle that day. He has worked extremely hard during the last few months. The board was very clear when Yuvraj was included among the 30 probables for India’s T20 squad. They said we will pick you only if you are fit. And Yuvraj gave his all since that day,” she said.
But this wasn’t the first time that the going had been tough for the mother and son. Being a single parent hasn’t been easy for Shabnam, who separated from Yograj Singh — former cricketer and actor — more than a decade ago. The move had come on Yuvraj’s insistence.
“Not many people know, but we (Yuvraj and I) were almost on the road after my separation. People think Yuvraj has always had the money and an easy life, but it wasn’t like that. I was married at a very young age and wasn’t professionally educated to earn well for myself. I did small, little jobs, but it was never enough. And it was Yuvraj who stepped up for me. Be it emotional, mental or financial support, he has provided me with everything that I could ever need in my life,” the mother says proudly.
Shabnam, in fact, reveals that the time spent during Yuvraj’s recovery affected her relationship with her younger son Zoravar, who felt neglected. “Things are better now, but there was a time when Zoravar was very angry with me. He had his aspirations and career and needed me to be by his side. For sometime, I could not support him the way he wanted me to.”