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Achieving excellence in any field is often the result of a tiring journey where hard work, sacrifice , perseverance and zeal to succeed helps an individual achieve the desired goal. Some champions are carved out after being carefully chiselled from a raw mound while others have the inherent qualities to achieve excellence. Yuvraj Singh is one such personality who was chiselled to don the mantle of a cricketer following his father Yograj Singh’s persuasion and die-hard desire to see him on the pinnacle of glory. Yograj Singh wanted his place in the sun after he failed to make it big in the game of cricket and he chose his son to fulfil his unfulfilled dream. His rigorous pursuit in shaping Yuvi was met with stern opposition from his wife Shabnam Singh and even his own mother who thought their child was being ruthlessly treated to achieve a goal which looked implausible.
Yograj Singh made use of every bit of wisdom which his short stint as a cricketer had taught him and believed apt qualities could be inculcated in an individual at an early age even if they are not inherently present. He prepared a rigorous schedule for the young Yuvi right from an early age believing he could bend over in his pursuit to attain perfection. He would sweat the details and ensure Yuvi made no mistake while learning the tricks of the game. All this however won him no appreciation as Yuvi felt like a bird in a gilded cage. This is the story of a cricketer who was nudged into this game not because of his own love for it but merely because his father had an unfulfilled dream of making it big in the game of cricket. While the game appeared no less than a torture for the young Yuvi during his early childhood days when his passion for skating far surpassed his interest for this game Yuvi has bitter memories of being pushed too hard. A strict disciplinarian, Yograj is a distraught man today who believes Yuvi could have done much better had he remained under his mentorship. A firm believer of perfection he asserts that apt preparation and fitness could have helped Yuvi’s immense talent had remained unexplored and he had barely used 25 per cent of his abilities. While being his biggest critic, Yograj believes Yuvi has taken life for granted and a person who had begun playing international cricket at the age of 19, the quantum of success would have been much greater for him. He still nurtures the hope that Yuvi would one day come back and thank him for shaping him into a cricketer who is the cream of the crop. Fate seems to have played a key role in his life and it was a chance medical check-up at a clinic in Delhi, which he had inaugurated, that a tumor was detected in his lung in 2011. Though he had been suffering bouts of cough and vomiting during the 2011 World Cup, but the success of winning the cup had diluted the pain which had been plaguing him throughout the World Cup. Replete with his detailed tabulated details of his performances in various tournaments and pictures glorifying his achievements as well as his childhood memories with his family, the book is an interesting account of the trials and tribulations which he has gone through while being trained to opt for a game which he appeared to have neither the interest nor an inclination in his childhood. It also provides his father an opportunity to vent his feelings on how Yuvraj could have emerged as a better cricketer , his failures, his underutilised talent and the unfortunate split between in his family during the formative years of his son.
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The writer Makarand
Waingankar, who is a well-known cricket columnist, has been closely
associated with the family ever since Yuvraj Singh was a toddler and
he has seen him shape up into a fiery batsman, aggressive bowler and a
fielder par excellence.