Yuvraj Singh’s father takes dig at Gautam Gambhir indirectly for Virat Kohli’s struggles in Border-Gavaskar Trophy

Former India all-rounder Yuvraj Singh’s father Yograj Singh blamed head coach Gautam Gambhir indirectly for Virat Kohli’s woeful run against the deliveries outside off-stump in the recently-concluded Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) against Australia Down Under.    

Coming in Australia with a huge reputation, the stylish batter fell trap to the deliveries on the sixth stump and more, eight times in his nine innings against Australia. Baring his 100 not out in the second innings in Perth Test, Kohli managed just 90 runs in remaining eight innings. 

Known to speak his heart out, Yograj held Gambhir responsible for not guiding Kohli without naming him, stating the former India opener needed to be less coach and more man-manager at the elite level. Yograj opined that Kohli should have played the balls straight in the Australian, something which even legendary Sunil Gavaskar advised during commentary citing Sachin Tendulkar’s Sydney 2004 example.   

Yograj pointed out that sometimes an exceptional player doesn’t need a coach in traditional sense but a man-manager. “Sometimes, a player’s mind gets blocked; they might not be scoring runs, or they keep getting out. Such players need someone to guide them, to say, ‘Let’s go to the nets and work on this’,” Yograj was quoted by IANS.

“For example, Virat Kohli got out many times playing his favourite shot – the right-hand push. Someone should have told him, ‘Virat, don’t play this shot’. Just play straight or leave this ball,” he added.

Yograj, who played 1 Test and 6 ODIs for India, also explained the difference between coaching and management. “Identifying and pointing out a player’s technical fault is coaching. Someone needs to recognise and convey these technical issues to the players. 

“But who will tell Rohit Sharma or Virat Kohli? Even they want someone to come and tell them what’s going wrong,” Yograj pointed out.