{"id":9951,"date":"2011-07-20T17:54:07","date_gmt":"2011-07-20T17:54:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tat.reddaisytrading.co.uk\/index.php\/2011\/07\/20\/yuvraj-singh-inspiring-the-next-generation-of-world-cup-winners\/"},"modified":"2016-01-07T17:00:51","modified_gmt":"2016-01-07T17:00:51","slug":"yuvraj-singh-inspiring-the-next-generation-of-world-cup-winners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/2011\/07\/20\/yuvraj-singh-inspiring-the-next-generation-of-world-cup-winners\/","title":{"rendered":"Yuvraj Singh \u2013 Inspiring the next generation of World Cup winners"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Flamboyant cricketer talks to The Asian Today<\/h3>\n
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AS a youngster Indian World Cup winner Yuvraj Singh admits to seeing young talented cricketers being forced to walk away from the game because they couldn\u2019t afford to buy basic equipment.<\/strong><\/div>\n

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It was a memory that stayed with him as he rose up the ranks to become a cricketing force for Team India. \u00a0<\/div>\n

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Today the 29-year-old is making sure youngsters have the opportunities available to them through the Yuvraj Singh Foundation. <\/div>\n

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Set up in 2009 the Foundation is aimed at supporting and developing sports for underprivileged children in India and across the world. <\/div>\n

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As a youngster Yuvraj had the support of his father, Indian cricketer Yograj Singh, as he learnt the finer points of cricket.<\/div>\n

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\u201cI remember playing cricket in my back yard with my father,\u201d Yuvraj tells The Asian Today. <\/div>\n

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\u201cThere were a lot of kids coming up through the game with me, but I saw a lot of youngsters struggling because they were poor. They couldn\u2019t afford the equipment. My Foundation helps support young talented cricketers of the future.\u201d<\/div>\n

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Alongside the great Sachin Tendulkar and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Yuvraj is one of India\u2019s biggest cricket stars. <\/div>\n

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And he acknowledges the responsibility he has in encouraging youngsters to get into cricket. <\/div>\n

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\u201cSince the World Cup and the emergence of the Indian Premier League (IPL) youngsters are becoming more\u00a0attracted to the game,\u201d he says. <\/div>\n

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\u201cAs part of the Foundation whenever we go to a certain city or meet youngsters we tell them the way to get into cricket is to play in grassroots initiatives.\u201d<\/div>\n

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But he admits the spectator allure of the 20 over IPL game is potentially damaging the way youngsters are viewing the game. <\/div>\n

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\u201cFirst class cricket is a more important package in being a good cricketer rather than just concentrating on IPL,\u201d Yuvraj says. <\/div>\n

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\u201cIts important youngsters don\u2019t just concentrate on shorter games like the IPL. Since the IPL a lot of cricketers only focus on being in an IPL team. The goal should be to play for India and not IPL.\u201d<\/div>\n

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When India won the World Cup earlier this year in front of an adoring 42,000-strong Mumbai crowd it was clear to see what the achievement meant to Yuvraj as he fell to his knees and broke down in tears. <\/div>\n

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\u201cOne day you dream of holding the World Cup and now the dream has come true,\u201d he says.<\/div>\n

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\u201cI wouldn\u2019t say life has changed big time but it\u2019s definitely changed.\u201d<\/div>\n

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Yuvraj\u2019s heroics in the World Cup gave him a legion of young fans all eager to emulate his achievements in world cricket.<\/div>\n

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And it was the heroics of another player that Yuvraj looked up to as a young cricketer. <\/div>\n

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\u201cI think I\u2019ve always been inspired by Sachin Tendulkar,\u201d he says. \u201cHe\u2019s a very talented cricketer on the field and he\u2019s been a great ambassador for India over the years. It\u2019s been great learning a lot from him.\u201d<\/div>\n

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Yuvraj will hope to be included alongside Sachin for India\u2019s first Test match against England at Lords starting this week. <\/div>\n

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But while Sachin will be hoping to become the first player to score 100 international centuries during the series, for Yuvraj the goal is all together different. <\/div>\n

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A flamboyant and exciting player in the one-day and Twenty20 cricket format, his showing in Test cricket for India is disappointing \u00a0having been unable to cement his place in the side since his 2003 Test debut against New Zealand. <\/div>\n

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\u201cI think I\u2019ve got to take the desperation out of my game more and just try and focus on whatever cricket I get to play,\u201d Yuvraj says when asked about his Test game. <\/div>\n

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\u201cI want to play more Test cricket. I haven\u2019t played much in my career for various reasons so I just want to focus on playing good cricket and see how it goes.\u201d<\/div>\n

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He describes England as a \u201cdangerous\u201d side adding India will have to play at the very top of their game to beat the home side.<\/div>\n

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For cricket fans in England the visit of the World Cup champions has added extra excitement to the impending battle between the two sides. <\/div>\n

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Yuvraj admits it\u2019s a \u201cgreat feeling\u201d coming to England as World Champions, especially because the team will play in front of their adoring British Indian supporters for the first time since that famous World Cup win.<\/div>\n

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He says: \u201cWe\u2019re looking forward to playing England in front of the Indian fan base we have here who will come to support us.<\/div>\n

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\u201cEngland is like playing at home most of the time like in Birmingham or Lords. We get a lot of Indian support, and more so now having won the World Cup the support and buzz is going to be more and there are going to be a lot of telling games against England.\u00a0<\/div>\n

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So what advice does Yuvraj have to young budding cricketers here in Britain who will no doubt have already brought their tickets to see the man in action this summer?<\/div>\n

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\u201cMy advice would be to concentrate, work hard and be disciplined. It\u2019s important that you don\u2019t have any distractions and be prepared to work hard to reach your goal.\u201d<\/div>\n

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Wise words from Indian World Champion Yuvraj Singh.<\/div>\n

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Want to Get Involved in Two fantastic Cricket Events in Birmingham this August? Here\u2019s how you can get involved: <\/strong><\/div>\n

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*<\/strong> The England and Wales Cricket Board is holding its first \u2018Cricket in the City\u2019 event between 10am-7pm on Monday 8th August in Victoria Square, Birmingham. <\/div>\n

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The ECB is offering you the chance to be part of a celebration of everything cricket \u2013 whether you\u2019re a lifelong fan or just intrigued what the sport has to offer – why not come down and have a look?<\/div>\n

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There will be lots of exciting events for the whole family, including the chance to have the chance to listen to a Q&A with some of the Indian cricket team! <\/div>\n

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ECB Cricket in the City \u2013 Birmingham, Monday 8th August 2011, 10am \u2013 7pm, Victoria Square, Birmingham city centre, Admission is FREE<\/strong><\/div>\n

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*<\/strong> The Bill Lloyd Memorial Trust Charity cricket day will be taking place on Sunday 7th August 2011 from 11.30am at Bourneville Cricket Club, Birmingham.<\/div>\n

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The match will pit the ECB Physical Disability XI against the British Army Development XI to raise funds and awareness for local charity The Bill Lloyd Memorial Trust Fund for the Development of Cricket & Cricketers at Grass Root Level as well as the Army Benevolent Fund, the Royal British Legion and the British Association for Cricketers with Disabilities. <\/div>\n

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England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) Physical Disability XI v British Army Development XI \u2013 Bourneville Cricket Club, Sunday 7th August 2011, 11.30am, Admission is FREE. <\/strong><\/div>\n

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For more information on the ECB and getting involved in cricket, please visit:\u00a0\u00a0 www.ecb.co.uk\/getinvolved<\/a><\/em> <\/div>\n

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Flamboyant cricketer talks to The Asian Today AS a youngster Indian World Cup winner Yuvraj Singh admits to seeing young talented cricketers being forced to walk away from the game because they couldn\u2019t afford to buy basic equipment. It was a memory that stayed with him as he rose up the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11753,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9951","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sport"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9951","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9951"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9951\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9951"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9951"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9951"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}