Fearlessness key to win T20 World Cup: Yuvraj Singh

Listen to Story KOLKATA: Yuvraj Singh, one of India’s greatest cricket icons and a 2011 World Cup winner, formally inaugurated the Yuvraj Singh Centres of Excellence & Merlin Group’s High performance Centre for cricket enthusiasts at Merlin Rise, the Sports Republic at Rajarhat in Kolkata. In an exclusive interview with India Today and Aaj Tak during the event, Yuvraj said that the coaching centre will be beneficial for the upcoming superstars who want to pursue cricket as a profession in the field of sports.

: I want to create an infrastructure so that they don’t have to go outside the excellence centre. We have planned it for a long time. 60 70 percent facilities are ready and I will monitor the remaining process. They will get a good coaching staff for the young kids. I believe that if you provide them with good facilities, they will perform well.

: You need every type of facility. For mental toughness, you need to work out for 5–6 hours a day if you want to represent your state or country. Mental toughness comes from hardwork. The game has advanced; diet and fitness have advanced and so you have to be strong. : We have won but also lost in 2017 (Champions Trophy).

I was also a part of the team. In skill, talent and hardwork we are not behind. We are much ahead and that is why we have played in finals be it World Test Championship or World Cups. We are just one step behind. For me, mental attitude to winning games is lacking. Our most experienced players, Virat (Kohli) and Rohit (Sharma) have good outings, but the the whole team needs to put their hands up.

If 11 people think that we have to win, then only we can win. , I was hurt as I was sure that we would beat them. Our younger generations should prepare hard for events like these. I am not a decision maker. I think Rohit and Virat are great players. But, in the T20s, youngsters are doing really well.

Fearlessness is important. When we won the first T20 World Cup, our team was fearless. That's important, especially in T20Is. Important decisions have to be taken, so experience also matters. A good team should have a mix of youth and experience. It's important to have a very good captain.

Whether Hardik will lead the team or not, whether Rohit will lead, it's not my decision. Rohit has been a fantastic captain for India in the IPL. That's the selector's call. : Many youngsters are doing well, starting with Shubman (Gill), Ruturaj (Gaikwad) and many more. : Sourav Ganguly has done very well as a captain.

He is one of the most successful captains as well. He has thought good for the team being as administrator, like when he was the captain of the team. But there is a huge difference in being a cricketer and an administrator. : For experienced cricketers, it won’t matter as to how many matches they are playing, because they have the required experience to succeed at the highest level.

It is important that young players get chances in the T20 format. And the IPL is a very good stage for them to prepare for the World Cup. : Mentoring is what I like the most, as I have done it with my state boys. All Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma, Anmolpreet Singh and Prabhsimran Singh are doing well.

I am confident of doing well as a mentor. My children are small and when they start going to school, I will start full time coaching..