Team India’s Alpha Male

In Chandigarh,what matters is that the Punjabi puttar has virtually grown up at Mohali’s PCA Stadium and there isn’t a single soul in the city who is not desperately searching for a ticket to cheer their own Yuvi paaji.

The Pakistan team has already landed in Chandigarh,and one can almost smell them discussing Yuvraj’s threat to their campaign. “Pakistan have reason to fear him,” says Kapil Dev,also a Chandigarh man,“you can see in Yuvraj’s eyes how badly he wants to win big games. I hope he stays focussed and can channelise his energy as India needs the match winner in him. My advice to him would be to switch off from the fans as,at times,playing at home can cause distractions or the player may get carried away.”

One man who would be following Yuvraj every moment is his father,who has always pushed him hard. “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 were alive now,to see the fruits of that hard work,” says Yograj Singh,a former India pacer and an actor who stars in Rakeysh Om Prakash Mehra’s Teen Thay Bhai,which releases on April 15.

As Yuvraj repeatedly turns into India’s match winner,Yograj recalls the despair of last year when he had lost his Test place and critics loudly questioned his ODI form. Yuvraj found solace in yoga and Buddhism,says his father. “Yuvi was down on confidence,he was suffering from all sorts of injury,people were mocking at his form,fitness,capabilities and his body language on the field. He had to find inner strength to fight the odds. He is my son,he practised hard and even practised Buddhism to regain his self-belief and motivation,” says Yograj.

“I have brought Yuvi up like that,and he is a born fighter,” says Yograj,adding that he is his son’s greatest fan. Friends also recall the dark patch of last year. Yuvraj bounced back by working hard on his fitness,they add.

His mother Shabnam has accompanied Yuvraj to a few matches this World Cup and she is his biggest strength. Just before the Cup started,Yuvraj had said,“The last one year has been testing,I am glad it’s over. Like any other cricketer,winning the World Cup is my ultimate dream. And I don’t want to do it because I want to silence my critics or something like that. I really want to do well for my people and team.”

Inputs from Jaskiran Kapoor