‘I still have to be careful’ – Yuvraj Singh on sharing dressing room with Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and others

India’s left-hand batter Yuvraj Singh is among those players who played under the guidance of Sachin Tendulkar, Anil Kumble, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, and VVS Laxman for a couple of years. Yuvraj played under the leadership of three and has recently said that he was reluctant to even sit next to them in the dressing room. 

The all-rounder further talked about the Indian T20 League which had made the youngsters comfortable around the big stars. He said that the youngsters used to be afraid of the big stars in the dressing room in the early international matches.

“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),” said Yuvraj at a Viacom18 Sports event in Mumbai for the launch of South Africa’s new franchise league SA20.

Yuvraj Singh fist to hit 6 sixes in T20Is

“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 be seated next to them. 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 I has done is that the youngsters are now more comfortable around the players,” he said.

Yuvraj spent a lot of years with the seniors before he become a senior for cricketers like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. He was a star performer in the 2007 20-20 World Cup as well as in the 50-over World Cup with his all-round abilities which took place in South Africa and India respectively. The 40-year-old was awarded the Player of the tournament for his brilliance in the 2011 edition of the 50-over World Cup. 

Yuvraj Singh hit Stuart Broad for 36 runs in an over in the first edition of the 20-20 World Cup. He was the first batter to smash 36 runs in an over in the shortest format of the game.