'Has he played cricket at the level to help them?' - Yuvraj Singh questions India batting coach's ability to guide T20 players

Sanjay Bangar was the only one whose tenure as the part of coaching staff didn’t continue post India’s World Cup semi-final exit last year. Former India cricketer Vikram Rathour replaced him as the team’s batting coach during the West Indies tour and he joined the side from the 2019-20 home season. The Men in Blue performed extremely well winning all the series at home with the likes of Shreyas Iyer finally emerging as a solid number four for the team.

However, Yuvraj Singh has questioned Rathour’s ability to guide the youngsters of this T20 generation during his time at the helm. A lot of cricketers have been giving their opinion to either the media houses or their teammates during Instagram live chats and Yuvi has been at the forefront of it expressing his views on the current set-up.

Vikram Rathour has played six Tests and seven ODI for India and Yuvraj Singh pointed out the same while questioning if he can deal with the players at the highest level. He also felt that the players of different personality should be handled in different ways and cited an example of how he will operate with the players like Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya.

“He (Rathour) is my friend … do you think he can help players of this T20 generation? Has he played cricket at the level to help them?” If I was a coach I’ll tell goodnight to (Jasprit) Bumrah at 9 pm and take Hardik (Pandya) out for a drink at 10 pm… that’s how you deal with different personalities,” he said in an Instagram live session with Nikhil Naz.

Yuvraj Singh backs Hardik Pandya to break his fastest fifty record

Yuvraj Singh created the record of the fastest T20 fifty (in 12 balls) after smashing Stuart Broad for six sixes during the inaugural T20 World Cup in South Africa. The record is intact even after 13 years and the southpaw feels Hardik Pandya has the ability to break it. However, he also cited the importance of the all-rounder getting the proper guidance.

“Hardik Pandya could be the guy who breaks my record of fastest T20 fifty … he has all the making of being a great all-rounder … but then again you need to have someone to guide him in the team,” the 38-year-old added.