Cricket: Yuvraj Singh Has Lung Cancer, Doctors Say Curable!

Article first published as Cricket: The Full Truth About Yuvraj Singh! on Technorati.

Indian cricket team’s prime match winner Yuvraj Singh is in trouble. The earlier medical reports indicating his lung tumor as benign had been proved wrong by doctors in the US. It is found to be malignant and India’s star cricketer has lung cancer.

The US doctors have said that Yuvraj’s proper treatment was delayed by a wrong diagnosis given by an Indian hospital. His physiotherapist claimed that the correct biopsy report was done in October end, 2011, but that report was allegedly stolen from his car. Then the Indian hospital gave the wrong diagnosis. This explains why Yuvraj’s family possibly informed the media as late as November end, 2011 that all was well with the superstar and he was likely to join India in the Australian triangular one-day series in February, 2012.

Yuvraj Singh had been undergoing treatment in the Cancer Research Institute in Boston since last month. His lung tumor had been described as a rare one and since the tumor is just above the artery of his heart there is some element of risk involved in medication. Some medical experts also call this disease as Lung Seminoma that mostly affects younger generation.

But the good news is that the US doctors term it as stage one cancer and thus immensely curable. Ever Lung Seminoma in younger people is more than 95% curable. They have decided upon three cycles of chemotherapy for Yuvraj which is likely be completed in March, 2012. Then the rehabilitation process would start and be complete next month. In May, 2012 Yuvraj is expected to come roaring back into the world of cricket.

Yuvraj played a pivotal role in the ICC World Cup-2011 which India won in style. During that historic period he scored 362 runs, took 15 wickets as an on-and-off slow bowler, won four man-of-the-match awards and was rightfully crowned the Player of the Tournament.

It is very unfortunate that the Indian cricket board fought with its main sponsor for 11 years over the utilization of Yuvraj’s Indian Premiere League (IPL-V) sale price. Yuvraj had been playing for Pune Warriors, an IPL team, as its skipper and now its owner Sahara India withdrew the ownership and decided to discontinue its mammoth cricket sponsorship for Team India.

Indian cricket needs Yuvraj Singh and the sooner he comes back the better. All cricket fans across the world must join in prayers for his immediate and the fullest recovery. He must win this crucial match for India too.

Politics of Corruption—The Democratic Angle!

Article first published as Politics of Corruption: The Democratic Angle on Technorati.

In a democracy power is always decentralized—from the highest level of the Prime Minister to the grass-root level of a village chieftain. So in a similar way corruption has to get decentralized too specifically at every level.

The village chief enjoys lot of powers to take decisions, settle disputes and negotiate for development projects. If, in the process, s/he takes bribes or bribes someone the higher authority at the district level cannot necessarily be implicated criminally in that corruption. A local boss at a town office similarly enjoys absolute discretionary powers in regard to his/her office. Now, if s/he indulges in corrupt deals the town chief or the district collector cannot necessarily be held criminally responsible. Accordingly, the chief minister of a state cannot necessarily be implicated criminally if the collector creates scams and scandals.

So, if local authorities wield so much power one can well imagine what a minister of a state or of a country can do. This becomes basically a power to be corrupt and it may or may not be a racket reaching the top. An endless stream of corrupt power-groups thrive democratically and any fight against corruption could get diluted in the process of making charges and allegations creating an equally never-ending stream of court cases, pleas, litigation and unrest. The problem here is that nobody can be conclusive about it. Politics has to naturally take over from hereon...

We have been used to beholding ‘Sahara India’ on the bluish uniforms of Indian cricketers in one-day and T20 games for over a decade now. It has almost acquired a patriotic fervor when Team India plays against international teams. Now, you shall not behold any more! Sahara has decided today to dissociate from cricket sponsorship after a series of disagreements with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). It is poised to aggravate Indian cricket which is already on a low after the Indian team’s disastrous overseas tours. Most significantly, it means a huge loss of money for the cash rich BCCI.

Yesterday, India did end its seven-month long win-less overseas records by defeating Australia by 8 wickets in the second T20 match played in Melbourne. For a change, Indian players were charged up in the field after losing the toss and put in to field first. They effected as many as four run-outs and one stumping that reduced Australia to 131 all out. Ravindra Jadeja excelled both in fielding and bowling bagging the man of the match award. Vinay Kumar too bowled well capturing two wickets. With Gambhir’s unbeaten half century and skipper Dhoni coming at number four India won emphatically, though hiccuping their way at the end to score the final run to win.

In today’s Indian Premiere League—Version 5 (IPL-V) auction or rather player-shopping super market Jadeja got sold for a huge $2 million. Incidentally, Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings bought after a tie. Vinay Kumar too got sold for a big price. Was yesterday’s match a dress rehearsal for today’s IPL player-shopping? You see, politics and big money in cricket make us a bit cynical! We start doubting anything that happens in cricket. We cannot help it!

Just before the auction Sahara announced its decision withdrawing from sponsorship including IPL stakes and ownership of its team the Pune Warriors. The last bone of contention between BCCI and Sahara was medically unfit Yuvraj Singh. Sahara said they cared for Yuvraj giving him the full year’s fee to get well and requested BCCI to allow them to reinvest Yuvraj’s price in its shopping kitty. Like in many earlier occasions this time too the BCCI quoted the rule book and refused. There have been several instances of breaking rules by the same BCCI in previous IPL versions, Sahara alleged. Finally, calling it an emotional decision they said that the arrogant Board did not ever recognize their commitment to Indian cricket. Refusing to react the stoic BCCI said they were waiting for written communication from Sahara before deciding its next course of action.