‘The Test of My Life’ chronicles charismatic cricketer Yuvraj Singh’s battle with cancer, and his consequent struggle to find a place in the Indian Cricket team. According to Yuvraj, the idea of writing this book struck during his meeting with the secretary of the Indian Cancer Society, who believed that Yuvraj could be an inspiration for others battling the disease.
The initial chapters read more like a chronicle of his family issues (between the parents) and his strained relationship with his dictatorial father Yograj Singh. If his father emerges as a tormenter who pushed him towards cricket, his mother Shabnam is Yuvraj's friend and saviour. Yuvraj acknowledges her role warmly, throughout. “Someone rightly said, God can't be everywhere – so he made mothers,” says an emotional Yuvraj.
The book gathers momentum when Yuvraj takes the reader through India’s (One Day) World Cup victory in 2011, and sketches a match by match account of India’s win. However, this phase also marked the beginning of his health problems. The book chronicles Yuvraj’s tryst with quacks, mis-diagnosis, faith healing, false promises and ineffective acupuncture treatment.
Then, far away from the cricket field, the book takes us to Indianapolis, as Yuvraj narrates the horrors of chemotherapy. He boldly reveals his anxieties, as the battle against cancer takes over his life. Particularly poignant are portions where Yuvraj is asking his doctor if he will be 'able to father a child in the future'; and if he 'could maybe preserve his sperm' prior to chemotherapy. He bares his dreadful loneliness – of staring out of his window, at a time when the town is abuzz, ahead of the Super Bowl. Yuvraj talks about heartwarming moments, when Anil Kumble and Sachin Tendulkar come to meet him in Indianapolis and London respectively.
In capturing the struggle with fate of a world class sportsman, this book constantly pulls at the heart strings of the reader. 'The Test of My Life' is truly Yuvraj's supreme test – his tryst with the most deadly of opponents..
The Test of My Life
Author: Yuvraj Singh
with Sharda Ugra & Nishant Jeet Arora
Publisher: Random House
Price: Rs. 399
Genre: Autobiography/ Non –Fiction An Inspirational Saga
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