Yuvraj Singh is widely regarded as one of the greatest white-ball cricketers produced by India. He represented the country in 304 ODIs, scoring 8701 at an average of 36.56 with 14 centuries and 52 fifties. He was the Player-of-the-Tournament in India’s 2011 World Cup triumph.
Yuvraj was equally good in T20Is, amassing 1177 runs from 58 matches. He was instrumental in India’s 2007 T20 World Cup title win as well.
The southpaw didn’t get consistent chances in the longest format of the game. In 40 Tests, he scored 1900 runs at 33.93 with 3 tons and 11 half-centuries.
During a recent interview on the Curly Tales YouTube channel, Yuvraj Singh opened up on his relationship with father Yograj Singh, who also played Test and ODI cricket for India in the early 1980s.
Yuvraj revealed why he didn’t want his father to come and watch him play in the stadiums.
“He was harsh at times. But I think it was also his dream that I live his dream, which I understood, but yes, there were times when I didn’t like it. But I think sometimes you have to do things which you don’t like to understand what you want to achieve. So, I think I was pushed a lot, and I think that was the reason I played for India at the age of 18 and a half," Yuvraj said.
“I definitely didn’t want my father to come and watch me play because if I got out, he would get angry with me, and then I was not allowed to hit the ball in the air when I was a kid. Neeche khelo, neeche khel kar run banao. He used to get very angry, so I said to him, ‘Aap matches mein mat aaya karo,’" he added.
Yuvraj mentioned his first series as an Indian cricketer when asked about the moment that made him feel that he had achieved something in life.
“When I scored 84 against Australia in the first match and after the tournament, both my parents, who were separated by then, came to receive me at the airport. I think that was one of the most amazing moments in my life; my performance actually got them back together just to meet, and I remember having hugged them both at the airport. We still have the picture that came in the newspaper. So for a kid, it’s amazing when you see your parents together," he remarked.
