India captain Rohit Sharma might have been influenced by quite a few coaches regarding his life and career over the years, but the ultimate “Fashion Guru” who he looked up to during the initial days of his international career was none other former India all-rounder Yuvraj Singh.
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A flamboyant performer on the field, Yuvraj was also blessed with this dashing personality – enough to even qualify for walking the ramp for renowned fashion designer Manish Malhotra during his playing days. The southpaw had also went on to launch his own fashion label named YWC Fashion and also featured in a host of stylish advertisements throughout a glorious career.
Therefore, no points for guessing why Sharma not only learnt some nuances of batting from his Guru, but also turned up before him to up his style game despite not allowing any girl to sit with him on his bike.
“We have watched him [Yuvraj Singh] since childhood when he used to do those ramp walks during fashion shows. He has always been my idol when it comes to batting. Similarly, with respect to fashion, our guru is Yuvraj Singh as well,” Sharma had told Star Sports in 2009.
Interestingly, readers must note that Rohit had himself walked the ramp for Yuvraj’s aforementioned fashion brand during its launch in Mumbai in 2016.
Rohit Sharma Used To Practice Six-Hitting By Observing Yuvraj Singh
During an interview with ESPN in April 2010, Sharma had stated that he used to learn the basics of six-hitting such as body shape and head position from Yuvraj. With Sharma making his T20I debut in a match where the left-handed batter had hit six sixes in an over, one understands why the latter had such a profound influence on the former.
“I practice my bat swing post net sessions on the wicket adjacent to the centre pitch. So, I aim to hit at least 20 sixes off 25 balls. I’ve noticed that whenever he [Yuvraj] hits sixes, his body position and head remains very still. If you’re out of shape, you won’t be able to middle the ball.”
His observations and learning did pay dividends as ‘Hitman’ had managed to trump the likes of Virat Kohli and Manish Pandey to make it to the Indian squad for the third ICC World Twenty20 in a row in 2010.
In spite of talks around his selection for the coveted tournament, the selectors were more than assured regarding his form especially after he had smashed a maiden first-class triple century during Ranji Trophy 2009/10. Having said that, he had scored a mere 78 runs across four innings for Deccan Chargers in Indian Premier League 2010 at the time of a 15-member squad announcement.
As far as his record in the first two IPL seasons was concerned, Sharma had scored 588 runs across 28 innings at a strike rate of 130.27. Kohli and Pandey, on the other hand, had scored a total of 411 runs at 109.30 and 171 runs at 134.64 respectively during IPL 2008 and 2009.
While Kohli was in exemplary ODI form in the lead up to the World Twenty20 13 years ago, Pandey was also in form in the shortest format on the back of a great start to his third IPL season. However, the selectors eventually decided to go ahead with someone who had the experience of representing India in World Cups in the past.
As far as Sharma’s equation with Yuvraj is concerned, the influence would have only went a couple of notches up considering the continued support the latter always provided him with during the challenging phases of his career.
Be it his words of motivation and then taking him out for dinner post ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 snub, or reiterating how he always believed in him when very few people did, or reminding him of the importance of staying in a good head space after some poor batting form in IPL 2022, Yuvraj indeed played the role of an ideal guru for his disciple.
Furthermore, with Yuvraj sharing a special relationship with Rohit’s wife, Ritika, since years preceding their marriage, it further strengthened the bond between the two legendary Indian cricketers.
