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Photos: Yuvraj bats in NCA nets on Day 2 of rehab programme
Yuvraj Singh continues to work towards his comeback to cricket. He had a gruelling net session for the second consecutive day at the National Cricket Academy, in Bangalore, on Tuesday.
Hoping to return to international cricket in the Twenty20 World Cup in September, the dashing all-rounder did some batting and bowling under constant scrutiny from a physio attached to the NCA.
He batted for nearly 30 minutes, had 15 minutes of bowling and did some stretching exercises.
While he was delighted to get through his first session in six months, he pointed out that he got tired after just 15 minutes through it.
"I think it was a big achievement to get into the nets. It felt really good; I'm happy," he said.
"It was not a bad session, for the first time after six months...I got tired after 15 minutes, but I'm sure every day will be a better day," he added.
'I'll keep increasing my practice load daily'
Yuvraj said he will take it easy and slowly increase the workload.
"Obviously, the body will tire and tire quick because of what I've gone through, but I'll keep increasing my practice load daily. The body will return to normal quickly," said the left-hander.
He expressed optimism of attaining full fitness as his confidence improves with every training session.
"My confidence will improve only with training. I'm sure the more time I spend here, the better the body will get. It will reach 100 per cent fitness. I will be doing match practice soon."
'My body will slowly become stronger'
On Monday, Yuvraj batted for the first time since undergoing treatment for a rare germ cell cancer earlier this year.
"I am right now in the second week of rehabilitation and I am feeling good. My body will slowly become stronger, I am sure," he said on Monday.
"The target is the T20 World Cup, and hopefully, I will be able to come just before that," reiterated the 30-year-old who has not appeared in any form of the game since last November when he was diagnosed with the disease.
'Playing for India is going to be a huge challenge'
Yuvraj underwent chemotherapy in the United States before returning to India in April to continue his rehabilitation.
The 2011 World Cup's Man-of-the-Tournament had earlier said that "playing for India is going to be a huge challenge for me because the body has been under a lot of shock which nobody can understand except me".
Having already returned to light training, Yuvraj had also said that that his recovery is going well, and he is enjoying a healthier lifestyle.
"I'm feeling good. It's been two months since I finished my chemotherapy. Initially my energy levels were low but now I am following my diet and eating loads of food and it's getting better," he had said.
'Six months it took to diagnose whether I had cancer'
He said it was hard for him to come to terms with the illness when it was first diagnosed last October.
"It was tough for me. Six months it took to diagnose whether I had cancer. I think it was tough, because I had lot of trouble breathing; I used to cough a lot. There used to be blood in my cough," he said in April after his return from the US.