Yuvraj Singh, a former Indian cricketer, believes that the culture in the dressing rooms has shifted in recent years.
That wasn’t always the case, Yuvraj recalled.
Yuvraj Singh on dressing room culture
Cricket South Africa (CSA) is once more attempting to replicate the success of the Indian Premier League (IPL) with SA20 after two failed attempts. The SA20’s inaugural season begins next month.
Yuvraj Singh and his former teammate Anil Kumble attended a Viacom18 Sports event in Mumbai for the launch of SA20.
Yuvraj was questioned about how the culture of modern cricket has changed from the time when he first entered the locker room as a young player with legends like Kumble.
“After 20 years, I still have to be careful about what I say in front of him (Kumble). I think it was a bit of a shock, to be honest. There’s Anil Kumble, Rahul Dravid, Tendulkar, and the likes of Ganguly [in the dressing room]. There are all these guys you’re watching on television as a kid and straightaway, you were in the dressing room with them. You had to ask the coach to not have a chair next to them,” he said.
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At the ICC Knockouts 2000, a teenage Yuvraj Singh made his international debut for the Indian team. The team led by Sourav Ganguly included players like Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, and Anil Kumble. He continued to play an important role in the Indian white-ball team and became a legend, winning the T20 World Cup and the World Cup.
According to the former Indian all-rounder, it would be strange for him to sit with the more experienced players in his early career. Yuvraj also mentioned that he occasionally requested the coaches not to place him in the same row as the more experienced players.
“The coach used to say they’re your teammates so you have to sit next to them. So, it took a while to start talking to them. But what the IPL has done is that the youngsters are now more comfortable around the players,” he added.
The Indian Premier League, among other franchise leagues, changed that dynamic, according to the former cricketer. He supported the success of the league and said that the SA20 would assist young South African players in doing the same.
