India’s twin World Cup hero Yuvraj Singh says he still is very careful about how he speaks and behaves with the senior players he played with like Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Anil Kumble, or Rahul Dravid despite it being more than 20 years since his India debut.
Yuvraj had made his India debut in 2000 under the captaincy of Sourav Ganguly and played with the likes of Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Anil Kumble, VVS Laxman, and others who were very senior to him.
He said that he is still intimidated in the company of the likes of Tendulkar, Ganguly, Kumble, and Dravid and watches closely as to what and how he speaks around them.
“After 20 years, I still have to be careful about what I say in front of him (Kumble). I think it was a bit of a shock, to be honest. There’s Anil Kumble, Rahul Dravid, Tendulkar, and the likes of Ganguly (in the dressing room),” said Yuvraj while speaking at the launch of South Africa’s SA20 league along with former teammate Anil Kumble.
He recalled youngsters used to ask coaches to keep them separate from these senior players in dressing rooms but then credited the IPL for bridging that gap between senior players and junior players and changing the culture.
“There are all these guys you’re watching on television as a kid and straightaway, you were in the dressing room with them. You had to ask the coach to not be seated next to them. The coach used to say they’re your teammates so you have to sit next to them. So, it took a while to start talking to them. But what the IPL has done is that the youngsters are now more comfortable around the players,” he added.
(Indian Express inputs)
