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Actor and former cricket Yograj Singh spoke about the personal cost of raising a world class cricketer. Yograj is the father of Yuvraj Singh, whom he began training when Yuvraj was barely three. Yograj’s dictatorial tactics have been the subject of controversy for years, and he has admitted in several interviews that his vengeance-fuelled actions resulted in the destruction of his personal relationships. He said that he was left by himself when Yuvraj chose to live with his mother following his parents’ separation, and that they would barely meet in the subsequent years. In a chat with Taruwar Kohli on YouTube, Yograj revealed that he was in jail when Yuvraj made his India debut, something that he had dedicated his entire life towards.
He said that because of his single-minded determination to turn Yuvraj into a world-class cricketer, his family was destroyed. He turned their house into a practice ground, and lashed out at his wife Shabnam when things became too heated. He was unrelenting towards Yuvraj, whose entire body would be covered in bruises from the hours upon hours of daily practice. He said that his mother, on her deathbed, begged him to spare Yuvraj, but he didn’t budge from his mission. However, when Yuvraj was in his late teens, things became too contentious at home.
Also read – Yuvraj Singh’s father Yograj kept wife under lock and key: ‘No leaving house without my permission, no visits from your relatives’
Asked how he felt when Yuvraj finally made his India debut, Yograj said, “The day he played for India he had already left my house. There were too many differences between me and my wife. He had to choose one of us, and he did the right thing. I was in jail when he played for India. What my in-laws did to me… He left my house, he said, ‘Dad, I can’t live in this house’. When he left, we stopped seeing each other. Whenever he wanted me for practice, he would come and tell me. But there too many differences.”
He said that after Yuvraj and his mother left, he reduced his interaction with him. “That was the moment when I said, ‘It’s okay, I can only pray for you’. We never lived together (after that). I left him, I didn’t interfere. We didn’t meet for years on end. Maybe we’d meet once a year. I was left all by myself…”
Opening up about his extreme methods, which he said he doesn’t regret one bit, Yograj continued, “At the age of 13 he hit a double-hundred. Under-16, he was ready to play for India, but I held off. He was wanted by all the selectors, but I told them to give me one more year… That was the time everything changed. I tore down the entire house and turned it into a pavillion, I put up lights. I installed a gym. No relatives and no friends allowed. I was creating a legend. My frustration and anger was getting too much. My wife was being tortured for no reason. I would take out all my anger at her.”
In an interview with SMTV, Yograj said that the reason he continues to have differences with his son is because Yuvraj doesn’t want him to take his grandson Orion under his wing as well. “The day Yuvi hands his children over to me, they will meet the same fate as he did. You can only forge gold through fire. There will be no mercy, because there is only one path… That’s what they fear, and that’s why we aren’t together,” he said.
