When Yuvraj Singh decided to mentor Abhishek Sharma, he had a clear vision for the young cricketer’s future. The World Cup-winning all-rounder, who was instrumental in India’s 2007 T20 and 2011 ODI triumphs, took Abhishek under his wing during the lockdown and helped shape his career trajectory.
Training under Yuvraj Singh was a turning point for Abhishek, who credited those sessions for transforming his batting technique. Yuvraj’s belief in his potential was unwavering, and he even predicted that Abhishek would soon become a match-winner for India. This prediction eventually came true, with Abhishek emerging as the Player of the Tournament in India’s Asia Cup victory, scoring 314 runs in seven matches.
From Self-Doubt to Purpose
Abhishek Sharma’s journey was not without struggles. He admitted that before Yuvraj’s mentorship, he was going through a tough phase in his career. “I am very grateful. During the lockdown, we would have camps at his place. Me, Shubman, Prabhsimran, Anmolpreet. Basically, I need it. We were going on a flight and I asked him if we could have a camp for a few days. He said yes right away. I was struggling a bit at that time, honestly,” said Abhishek.
The young left-hander recalled that he wasn’t able to cement his place in his IPL team, while contemporaries like Shubman Gill had already debuted for India. This created a sense of self-doubt. “I was not consistent in the IPL, and I was not even in the playing XI. Shubman was already playing for India. I started feeling that I was behind, as people from my age group were doing well already.”
He further added :
“We were having lunch at his place, and paaji told me straight away that he was not preparing me for the state or the IPL or even to get a cap for India. He told me I am making you ready to win games for India. Write this, and it will happen in the next two to three years. After that camp, I realised my goal is something else,”
Technical Evolution Under Yuvraj
Beyond motivation, Yuvraj’s mentorship extended deeply into technical refinement. He took a meticulous approach to improving Abhishek’s batting, investing significant time and effort into analysis. “He would sit at home and watch our videos, make notes from them, and then take screenshots from different videos to compare before and after.”
He further added :
“No one knows Yuvi paaji goes into this much detail. And while we are practising for over five hours, he will be there with us throughout,” he said. This relentless focus on technique and power-hitting honed Abhishek’s skills and prepared him mentally and physically to excel at the international level, fulfilling Yuvraj’s early prediction and shaping a promising career ahead.
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