‘Told Arjun, he must forget he’s Sachin Tendulkar's son. I gave feedback to Yuvraj and SRT...': Yograj Singh
Yograj Singh, who is legendary cricketer Yuvraj Singh's father, had trained Sachin Tendulkar's son Arjun, prior to his Ranji Trophy debut.
Up-and-coming all-rounder Arjun Tendulkar received a special message from former Indian cricketer Yograj Singh after the Mumbaikar emulated Sachin Tendulkar's feat in his Ranji Trophy debut game for Goa. Tendulkar's son Arjun smashed a memorable century while playing his first-ever match for Goa. Arjun had matched his father Tendulkar’s feat by notching up a sublime ton on his first-class debut. Yograj, who is legendary cricketer Yuvraj Singh's father, had trained Tendulkar's son prior to the rookie's debut in the domestic arena.
Interestingly, former Indian cricketer Yograj decided to train Tendulkar's son, Arjun, under one condition. Yograj, who famously played an instrumental role in training his son Yuvraj to become one of the greatest players in world cricket, set up a 'boot camp' for young Arjun during his short yet fruitful stay in Chandigarh. Arjun had just switched domestic teams from Mumbai to Goa when the Mumbaikar toured Chandigarh for the JP Atray tournament.
"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.
Yograj revealed that Arjun's two-week stay in Chandigarh with the former cricketer was nothing but a boot camp-like experience for Tendulkar's son. After waking up at 5 AM, Arjun used to take part in a two-hour run which was followed by a gym session where he didn't lift heavy weights. Yograj advised Arjun to do bodyweight exercises which can minimise the chances of a potential injury.
“I had told him that he must forget he is Sachin Tendulkar’s son for the next 15 days. I feel he was mollycoddled by coaches because he is Tendulkar’s son. I told him that he needs to get out of his father’s shadow. 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,” Yograj added.
Thirty-four years after batting legend Tendulkar registered his maiden ton, his son Arjun achieved the same feat in the celebrated Ranji Trophy on Wednesday. Goa's Arjun scored 120 off 207 balls at the Goa Cricket Association Academy Ground in Porvorim.
