DB News Exclusive: Yuvraj Singh Opens Up With Kevin Pietersen
Few cricketers have lived as many lives in one career as Yuvraj Singh.
In a wide-ranging conversation on The Switch, hosted by Kevin Pietersen, Yuvraj speaks openly about cricket, fear, belief, legacy and survival.
Along with his own journey, Yuvi also speaks about preparing Shubman Gill and Abhishek Sharma to play for India in this exclusive conversation.
‘The Switch’ is England legend Kevin Pietersen’s new YouTube channel, brought to you by Duelbits News.
What’s about to follow next is the actual conversation, in their own words.
Kevin Pietersen:
We had many amazing battles on the cricket field. Let’s look back to where it all started. Is there anything that you can pick out from your childhood that made you feel and think I’m going to be the guy that wins India a World Cup?
Yuvraj Singh:
My father played for India. And he didn’t play for a long time. So he wanted to pursue his dream through me, just like making sure that I’m getting up for training at 6 AM in the morning till 8 PM in the night.
He said that you have to work hard 8 hours a day, as simple as that. And then he took the garden out from the backyard, put a cricket pitch over there. And he would chuck leather balls at me, tennis balls, plastic balls.
But, I was not allowed to wear a helmet. I got hit a lot of times, but luckily it didn’t hit my eye. And one day, I remember I came from the under-19 tour from England. I was like, these guys are quick, I need to wear a helmet. And he didn’t speak to me for a couple of days. Because his idol was Sir Vivian Richards. He never wore a helmet so I’m not going to wear a helmet, simple as that.
Kevin Pietersen:
Let’s come to the players that look up to you.. Shubman Gills of the world and Abhishek Sharma, who is one of the most tremendous strikers of modern day cricket. Is that why you’re quite tough on them as well?
Yuvraj Singh:
With them, I’m hard in a different way, not how my dad was. Those times were different. I learned the best from him. I felt if there was some indiscipline, don’t have to pay any cash. If you’re late, just run 15-20 rounds. You’re not going to be late next time. So if they came late to the gym, just sweep the floor. Next time you won’t do it. So it was easier this way to get things done.
Kevin Pietersen:
How long have you worked with Shubman and Abhishek?
Yuvraj Singh:
I think I started working with these guys just before COVID. And obviously I could feel Shubman was up a notch, one step ahead. He had already played two games for India. And I could see that the guy is four times more hardworking than an average cricketer. Every time I told him something, he would pick it up and put it in his batting. He would adapt very quickly. That’s why he is where he is.
With Abhishek, I put him on a process where I said, if you do this for 4 years, you’re going to play for India. I told to think about playing for India, not IPL. And then in exactly 4 years and 3 months, he debuted for India. He understood, like some guys are there, they don’t understand how much talent they have. He kind of understood the amount of talent he had.
I just feel that nowadays, you don’t put a price on the wicket. (on Abhishek trying to hit first ball for a six)
There is no fear of getting out. If there’s no fear of getting out, you can go after any bowler, whether he’s bowling 140 or 150.
These guys are stepping down to guys who are bowling 150 clicks. So, you know, they’re not afraid to go after them. And that’s the generation we’ve come to. So now the T20 plan is that I’m not going out there to get 100 off 60 or 70 balls. If I play 20 balls and score 50 or 60 runs, they want to make that impact.
The problem is that they want to score 100 off 40 or 36 balls. They’re not happy scoring 100 off 50-55 balls. That’s why I feel Shubman is more consistent in his performances, because he takes his time. And Abhishek is not set up like that. He’s like, I’m just going to go after the ball straight away.
Shubman and Abhishek can be a dynamic duo for India. But I think there’s Yashasvi Jaiswal also in the picture, who’s also an amazing striker of the ball.
Kevin Pietersen:
People often talk about your 6 sixes at the 2007 T20 World Cup against England. Is that what you want to be remembered for?
Yuvraj Singh:
Yeah. People often relate me to my 6 sixes. Honestly, I would rather have them relate me to winning the World Cup. 6 sixes is great entertainment. It’s a big part of my history and cricket history as well. But I think, you know, winning the World Cup was more special because we won after 28 years. We (India) never won at home.
And, you know, I was not feeling well. Battling all that. And I just felt that, you know, since we were kids, winning a World Cup is a special thing. And not many teams except Australia had done that.
Winning a World Cup, there’s nothing bigger in cricket, in one day cricket. Winning a World Cup, a 50-year-old World Cup.
Kevin Pietersen:
Was there a moment where you thought you were going to die? (On Yuvraj Singh’s recovery from cancer)
Yuvraj Singh:
Yeah. I mean, when something like that hits you, that’s the first thought that comes to your head. And I wanted to go on the Australia tour because I had just started to get my place in Test Cricket.
So I retired. And I was waiting for seven years to play Test Cricket. You know, I was 12th man for 40 Test matches. I was going on the Australia tour and the physio came and said, you’re not going. And then obviously speaking to a doctor, they said that you have 3 to 6 months left.
Now you decide whether you want to play cricket or you want to go for treatment. I was like, I’d rather play cricket because I don’t know how much time I have left to play Test Cricket, you know.
Because the tumour was between my lung and my heart. And it was suppressing the nerve of my heart. So he said you could die of a heart attack if you don’t do chemotherapy.
And then obviously they sent me for treatment. I went to the US.
Kevin Pietersen:
Was there a lot of consultation around what the right thing to do is? (for treatment)
Yuvraj Singh:
I think we all were in a bit of denial. You know, we all, to be honest, didn’t take the right steps in the start.
And obviously as it got worse, you know, we didn’t have a choice but to go to America and get treated.
Luckily, you know, just in time, when I was in my third cycle of chemo, I was like, this is impossible.
It was really hard to, you know, go with something like that. But again, I was determined to come back and play. And I was very determined that I’m going to come back and play for India again.
Kevin Pietersen:
Was there a moment when you got the all clear?
Yuvraj Singh:
I mean, I remember Dr. Einhorn words when I walked in the hospital and all my tests were done.
He said, you will walk out as a man who never had cancer.
It gave me goosebumps, still does. Those were the first motivating words from Dr. Einhorn and gave me that assurance, which motivated me to go through my treatment.
I remember the doctor saying, you’re good to go. And he said, you can go back and play cricket again.
I remember opening a glass of red wine as I was not allowed to drink alcohol. I was like, I’m just, I’m gonna have it. I’m having it. It’s very hard to express that emotion. It’s like, you know, getting a second life.
My mother was a rock. She never shed a tear. And she was there 24-7 looking after me. Close friends came and supported me. But I think the one thing that made me bounce back was competitiveness. And I wanted to come back and play for India where everybody said it is not possible.
Kevin Pietersen:
Your foundation has saved lives. How much work are you doing now? How many kids have you got in the system and how many lives have you saved?
Yuvraj Singh:
We started slowly, but now we have a team of almost 24 doctors and we’re about 40 people.
We’ve done more than 500 children and more than 300 scholarships. We work on cancer treatment for below poverty line children. Kids whose parents have lost all their funds in their treatment, cannot go back to education. So if they live, they need money for education. So we sponsor their scholarships. We fund their treatments now.
We want to support those children. And hopefully tomorrow, when they become something, they’re proud of the journey that I’ve inspired them to become today.
Yuvraj Singh and Kevin Pietersen also tested different generations of cricket bats. You can watch the full video on The Switch YouTube channel – click here.