Indian cricket legend Yuvraj Singh has made it clear that his coaching style is markedly different from that of his father, Yograj Singh. Though Yuvraj is not a formally certified coach, his influence on Indian cricket and its emerging talent is undeniable.
Young stars like Abhishek Sharma and Shubman Gill have benefited from Yuvraj’s guidance from early in their careers. While he never officially coached them, his mentorship helped shape their development.
Today, Gill captains India in ODIs and Tests, while Abhishek has rapidly risen to become the ICC’s top-ranked T20I batter.
“I am definitely nothing like Yograj Singh. I am a very different person, and a very different personality. My style of coaching is very different. I believe when you are coaching someone or mentoring someone, you need to be in their shoes and you need to understand their mindset, what they are going through, rather than telling them what to do. It has to be like a push and pull. You take some and you give some. So it is important to understand how to be in the head of a 19-year-old,” Yuvraj told PTI.
Stories of Yuvraj Singh facing his father Yograj’s strict discipline are well known.
One infamous incident saw Yograj throw away Yuvraj’s skating shoes, effectively nudging him toward cricket and shaping his future career. In 2000, Yuvraj was part of the Under-19 World Cup-winning team under Mohammad Kaif and made his India debut just a few months later.
His contributions in the 2007 and 2011 World Cups helped him carve out a legendary career. Despite this, he remains committed to his own coaching style, noting that during his teenage years, few people truly grasped the mindset of a young athlete.
“When I was 19 years old, nobody understood the challenges that I was facing, so when I see a 19 or a 20-year-old, I know what challenges they are facing mentally, and it is about listening to them, understanding their mindset and working accordingly rather than telling them what to do,” pointed out Yuvraj.
