‘He stopped being my father’: Yuvraj Singh on relationship with dad Yograj Singh; worked in Punjabi film to be with him

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Watching his father act and growing up around fame

When asked whether watching his father perform helped him later navigate success and fame, Yuvraj said, “When I look back at that moment now, it was really just about what your parents tell you to do at the age of eight or nine. You tag along because you want to spend time with them. For me, it was about being with my dad and watching what he did, because he loved acting.”

“I never wanted to be an actor”

Despite early exposure to films, Yuvraj made it clear that acting was never his dream. In fact, neither was cricket, at least initially. As a child, his interests leaned toward roller skating, tennis, and indoor games. Spending hours under the sun playing cricket, he admitted, did not appeal to him at the time.

Yuvraj admitted that cricket was, in many ways, forced upon him initially, though he eventually grew to enjoy it and commit fully.

A complicated father-son equation

Yuvraj also spoke about how his relationship with his father changed once training began. “When I was a kid, he was a father. When he started coaching me, he was never a father after that, he was a coach. That’s probably the saddest part. What parents learn, they pass on to their children. We have to learn from that and be better for our kids. He did what he knew at that time, but it’s a very thin line as a parent,” Yuvraj said.

Yograj Singh recalls when he threw Yuvraj Singh’s medal

Earlier, in a conversation with Saurav Yaduvanshi, Yograj Singh had also spoken openly about Yuvraj’s childhood, admitting that his son was gradually losing interest in cricket and gravitating toward tennis and skating. “I wanted my son to get revenge for me, from the system, the selectors, and all those who laughed at me,” he recalled. Yograj described a moment that left a lasting impression.

“Yuvraj was skating at a competition one day and he got a lot of medals. We sat in the car and I took his medals and threw them out of the car. This was the wrong thing to do. Then I took his skates and threw them out and he started crying.”

As Yuvraj cried, Yograj admitted he reacted harshly. “Shut up,” he roared, adding that due to his “very bad temper,” neither Yuvraj nor his mother spoke much during the drive. The incident escalated at home, where Yograj’s mother intervened strongly. “She told me it’s better if you die. She told me that if you are going to treat my son like this, you better get out of the house. She abused me a lot,” Yograj said.

“I told them, I said, ‘Either I will live in this house, or he will. I want him to play cricket, and I will not let go until he plays. You can do whatever you want to.’ This is how champions are made,” he declared.