Yuvraj Singh hated cricket and I made him love cricket, says Yograj Singh

Yuvraj Singh set in motion a wave of emotion when he announced his retirement from all forms of international cricket earlier this week. The explosive left-handed all-rounder was on the receiving end of in numerous messages of gratitude as his fans, friends and former teammates took to social media to portray their appreciation for the retiring cricketer.

However, Yuvraj Singh’s father - Yograj Singh - revealed that his son was not the ‘crazy cricketer’ that he was during the peak of his playing career with the Indian team. 

"Yuvraj was six when I took him to Sector 16 Stadium, where I used to train. There used to a pace academy and I would tell Yuvraj to practice without helmet.

"He would run for more than one and half hour at the stadium daily. I remember once my mother was death bed and she told me that I was spoiling Yuvraj’s life with such a harsh training. That was the only time I regretted being harsh on my son. Yuvi hated cricket and I made him love cricket, which is his life now. Usko cricket ki intoxication ho gayi and now the whole world knows what he has achieved," Yograj wrote for The Indian Express.

Yograj, who represented India in one Test and six ODIs, had to drop out of the Indian team due to a fatal injury which ultimately ended his career with the national side. The former medium pacer added that his son would have broken all records in limited-overs cricket if it weren’t for a knee injury that Yuvraj suffered under the tenure of coach Greg Chappell.

"Had it not for the knee injury, that he suffered while playing kho-kho when Greg Chappell was the coach, he could have broken all the ODI and T20 records. (The Indian team during Chappel era played indigenous games for warm-up before net sessions). I cannot forgive Chappell for that.

"When he suffered from cancer, it made me cry too. I would ask God that this story cannot end this way. I would cry in my room all alone. I didn’t cry in front of him. He would tell me that ‘Papa, even I die, I want you and the whole country to see the World Cup trophy in my hands’," Yograj added.