Tiger Dad

While son Yuvraj has been hitting hard on the cricket field during the World Cup,Yograj feels that India does not have the right “sporting attitude”. He says,“We give our sons and daughters sheltered lives by protecting them. It makes them weak. When I was training Yuvi,I pushed him to the extreme. I remember when he was 10 years old,a cricket ball hit his head — my mother never spoke to me after that,she said I was torturing him. I wish she was alive now,to see the fruits of that hard work.” Yograj goes on to add that the current generation is into “nuisance parenting”. “Let’s leave the World Cup for a moment… look around,where is the sportsman spirit or any emphasis on fitness? In countries like South Africa and Australia,parents start training their children when they are three and five years old. They make them tough,while we make them studious and keep them indoors,” adds Yograj.

After mentoring Yuvraj to play cricket,Yograj has saved money to teach tennis to his seven-year-old daughter Amarjot Kaur. He wants to train her in the US and has sent her there already. “I don’t want her to be a Sania Mirza. I want her to be Serena Williams,a Wimbledon champion — the best in the world,” says Yograj.

Coming back to films,Yograj feels that playing his character in Teen Thay Bhai came naturally to him. He too,grew up in a typical Jat Sikh family of hardcore authoritarian men,who were always in control and were towering personalities. “There was just one little thing that was bothersome in the film. I had one eye shut. They glued one eye and it was a pain keeping it still and shut,” says Yograj,who will be seen in another film titled West is West and also has a Punjabi film lined-up.

When not on television for Bigg Toss on India TV,with Rakhi Sawant and Veena Malik,Yograj is busy training sports stars of the future. He thinks that Manan Vohra — who he has been training since the age of eight — and Traksh,son of Puneet Bali (Punjab and Haryana High Court Advocate),have a promising future. “I have three photo frames in my house — one has a picture of Sachin Tendulkar and me,the other has Yuvi and me,and the third is empty. The day Manan makes it big,I’ll put his picture,” says Yograj,promising that he will give this nation two more Yuvraj Singhs. His predication for the World Cup? “India will win and Yuvraj will be instrumental in it. Not because he is my son,but because I am his greatest fan of all times,” says the doting father.