From Yuvraj’s dad to Sachin’s son: ‘Told him to forget he is Sachin’s son for the next 15 days’

A COUPLE of months ago, a video clip did the rounds of Yograj Singh, the former fast bowler, actor and coach, trying to get his new cricket trainee to dance the bhangra. On Wednesday, Yograj, who is the father of former India star Yuvraj Singh, sent that young trainee a text from the UK where he is on a shoot. The g: “Well batted son. One day you will be a great all-rounder. Mark my words.”
That trainee was none other than 23-year-old Arjun Tendulkar, the son of Sachin Tendulkar. And Yograj’s message was for a unique milestone. Playing for Goa in Porvorim, Arjun had scored a century on his Ranji Trophy debut — just like his father all the way back in 1988.
Known to have been an extremely tough taskmaster while training his own son Yuvraj to become an international cricketer, Yograj says it was in September that he received an unexpected request.
“In the first week of September, I got a call from Yuvi (Yuvraj), saying, ‘Dad, Arjun will be in Chandigarh for two weeks and Sachin has requested if you have time to train him’. How could I have said no to Sachin, he is like my elder son. But I had one condition. I told Yuvi, ‘You know my way of training and I don’t want anyone to intervene’,” Yograj told The Indian Express from Sheffield.Subscriber Only StoriesPremiumPremiumPremiumPremium
At the time, Arjun had moved to Goa from Mumbai to get some “game time” and was to visit Chandigarh for the JP Atray tournament.
According to Yograj, the two weeks that Arjun spent with him was like a boot camp: wake up at 5 am, do a two-hour run followed a gym session – and no lifting heavy weights. Instead, Arjun was told to use his bodyweight exercises to tone his muscles and reduce the chance of injury.
In Porvorim Wednesday, Arjun scored 120 off 207 deliveries against Rajasthan, stitching a 221-run partnership with teammate Suyash Prabhudessai, who hit 212 off 416 balls. Goa were 493 for 8 at stumps as the game’s second day came to a close. (Express Photo)
“I had told him that he must forget he is Sachin Tendulkar’s son for the next 15 days. I feel he was mollycoddled coaches because he is Tendulkar’s son. I told him that he needs to get out of his father’s shadow,” Yograj says.
Arjun “impressed” Yograj in the nets but not with his left-arm pace. “When I saw him batting, I thought this guy could be a destroyer. I immediately gave feedback to Sachin and Yuvraj. I called Sachin and asked him why he didn’t focus more on Arjun’s batting,” says Yograj.
Soon, Arjun got to know what it takes to work with the coach who is known to have held a shoe in one hand while training a young Yuvraj. The approach was no different, this time. In one practice game, Yograj says, Arjun was hit on the shin while bowling. A quick visit to the doctor confirmed there was no fracture.

“He said, ‘sir, I can’t even stand’. I told him not to worry,” says Yograj. “I told him that without swimming in the river of fire, you will never become gold. I don’t know if it was out of anger or what but he started hitting the ball with such power. Few of them went all the way to the skating rink and tennis court (adjacent to Yograj’s academy).”
In Porvorim Wednesday, Arjun scored 120 off 207 deliveries against Rajasthan, stitching a 221-run partnership with teammate Suyash Prabhudessai, who hit 212 off 416 balls. Goa were 493 for 8 at stumps as the game’s second day came to a close.
Later, he told reporters that he had waited for the right opportunities to score. Explaining his approach, Arjun said, “Just get into the basics. Give the first hour to the bowlers and once I sustained the initial phase, it was time to capitalise and get runs.”
Arjun also admitted: He had no idea that he had emulated his father.