Yuvraj Singh, the two-time World Cup winner for India, recommended golf to his “wards” Shubman Gill and Abhishek Sharma because of its calming effects and claimed it may have helped him score “at least 3,000 more runs” in international cricket.
Former India captain Kapil Dev had previously highlighted the influence of golf on a cricket career, stating that he would have scored “2,000 runs extra in cricket” if he had taken up the game while playing.
During the launch of the IGPL tour schedule in New Delhi on Thursday, Yuvraj said, “I agree with Kapil Paaji, he said 2,000… I would’ve scored 3,000 more runs.”
“Now the rules have changed in international cricket. In cricket, you don’t get another opportunity. In golf, you play a bad shot, but you can still hit a good one and come back on the hole.”
In his capacity as an IGPL co-owner and brand ambassador, the 43-year-old southpaw, who was instrumental in India’s successful 2007 T20 World Cup and 2011 ODI World Cup campaigns, was speaking to the media.
“If you get out, you’re sitting in the room thinking about the next game. But if it was the second day, you would have just got out and played golf with your friends. You go to a game with a fresh mind. Sometimes it’s good to go and play another sport and come back fresh,” he said.
“So if suppose India are playing, and are playing one day and there’s a gap of three days, and the guy goes and plays golf, the media would say they are not practising. That mindset has to change. The more fresh you are, the better the performance is going to be.
“I tell all the young cricketers to try and play golf, hit the ball, see how you feel. Because sometimes too much practice is also not good for you. Sometimes when you’re not scoring runs, you want to practice more with golf as well. You want to hit more balls. But sometimes it’s good to relax.”
Asked if he has told his wards — Gill and Abhishek — to play golf during cricket tournaments, Yuvi said: “I have told them to play golf and I encourage them to play. It’s very hard to find time, but I think IPL is a good time for them to actually find time and hit some balls.
“It’s up to them. Now they are superstars of the game and they have to decide what’s going help them to be better. If golf can be something, then they have to decide that. But I encourage all athletes to play golf. I think it’s a great way to unwind and it’s a great for the mind.”
“I feel that any sport that helps you relax is going to be less taxing on the body and a mood lifter. Some of the best cricketers in the world have played golf from a very young age.
“You see a lot of these guys actually play a lot of golf and less cricket practice during tours. You can’t change something in a game in three days. But how can you recover and be mentally fresh for a game?
“So I just feel it’s just not cricket. For any sporting person who plays any sport in the world, should play golf because eventually it will bring out the best in them in their sport.”
