Bhajji: Yuvi a born fighter, he will be back

New Delhi: India's World Cup star Yuvraj Singh will recover from a cancerous tumour, his doctor said yesterday, as politicians, sports officials and his teammates rallied around the ailing all-rounder.

Yuvraj is undergoing chemotherapy treatment in the United States for a rare condition, mediastinal seminoma, a malignant tumour located between his lungs.

Yuvraj will tomorrow start the third week of a nine-week chemotherapy treatment in the United States and will be able to do light training as he improves, the doctor said.

Support for Yuvraj, who was named the man of the tournament after India's World Cup triumph in April last year, poured in from teammates, officials and politicians across the country.

"Wish Yuvraj a speedy recovery! Asking officials to find the quantum and nature of help required. Government should and will help him," Indian sports minister Ajay Maken wrote on Twitter.

Leave him alone

India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh wrote on the micro-blogging site that "whatever Yuvraj is dealing with, we need to support him, leave him alone and allow him to recover soon".

"He is a born fighter. I request media to respect Yuvraj's privacy and allow him to concentrate on his recovery. He will be back with a bang," said Harbhajan.

India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni said he did not know about the illness as he had not been in touch with Yuvraj, but he told the Press Trust of India news agency: "He is a pleasure to have in the side." Left-handed Yuvraj had a dream run in the World Cup, scoring 362 runs and grabbing 15 wickets with his disciplined spin bowling across nine matches.

Vijay Mallya, who owns Indian Premier League (IPL) side Royal Challengers Bangalore, said he was "devastated" by the news while Indian Davis Cupper Rohan Bopanna said "all our prayers and good wishes are with him".

Relief: Disease curable

Yuvraj Singh's cancer is curable and the hard-hitting Indian batsman is likely to be back in training in May, a New Delhi oncologist said yesterday. The 30-year-old was told last year that he had a golf ball-sized non-malignant tumour but that diagnosis was changed at the weekend to a condition called "mediastinal seminoma".

"Yuvraj Singh has been diagnosed with cancer and is currently undergoing chemotherapy in the United States," Dr Nitesh Rohatgi told reporters. "We are very lucky this is a seminoma. These are mostly curable with chemotherapy and ... unlikely to affect Yuvraj's career."