Yograj Singh comments on Arjun Tendulkar’s game from his perspective as the father of ex-cricketer Yuvraj Singh. He envisions Arjun, son of the cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar, really pushing the pedal in honing his batting skills and centering his overall activity more on that aspect rather than concentrating solely upon his bowling. Arjun is at present part of the Mumbai Indians squad in the IPL 2025 season but has not yet taken the field.
Yograj has been training Arjun since he came to Goa from Mumbai to play for the Ranji Trophy. Some time back, there was a prediction from Yograj regarding Arjun’s future in cricket that seemed very bold. Yograj said Arjun could make it to international cricket, and the next fighter after Chris Gayle, with the help of his batting by Yuvraj, who is on very friendly terms with Sachin.
He said to CricketNext, “As for Arjun, I feel he should concentrate less on his bowling and pay more attention to his batting. If Yuvraj gets involved-since he and Sachin are really close-and takes Arjun under his wing, just for about three months, I’m sure he can turn into the next Chris Gayle. Sometimes, fast bowlers face issues like stress fractures and that can throw them off their game. It would probably be wise to have Yuvraj mentor Arjun for a bit.”
Apart from other advice to Arjun, Yograj recalled experiences about his son in relation to talent spotting. He talked about how-while participating in age-group tournaments of the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA)-it was Yuvraj who had first spotted the cricketing talent of one Abhishek Sharma. The PCA was approached for Abhishek’s stats, and they mistakenly called him a mere bowler!
Yograj explained: “When we inquired about Abhishek’s performances, they told us, ‘Sir, he’s a bowler.’ Yuvraj pushed back and said, ‘Just check his performance records.’ It turned out that Abhishek had already hit 24 centuries! Yuvraj was baffled by the wrong information they were giving. That was about six or seven years ago.” He chuckled as he added, “When Yuvraj sent me the record and said, ‘Papa, check this player out,’ I realized it was all about sharing correct information. Too often, people try to bring others down out of jealousy instead of focusing on building their own careers.”
Hence, Yograj expresses his strong inclination toward grooming young talent-whether Arjun or discern any in others like Abhishek. His viewpoint brings forth the bigger picture behind mentorship and the need for honest communication in sports.
