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Would Have Scored 3,000 More Runs If I Had Played Golf: Yuvraj Singh
Since retiring from cricket, Yuvraj has taken up playing golf very seriously
With over 10,000 international runs, close to 150 international wickets, two World Cup titles and a Player of the Tournament award to his name in a home World Cup, Yuvraj Singh has had the kind of career any budding cricketer would wish for. The raw numbers itself are elite, but the underlying impact Yuvraj had in games made him one of the greatest ‘x-factor’ players to grace the sport.
The former all-rounder, however, believes he could have been an even better player than he was if he had taken up golf.
"I would have scored 3,000 more runs [if I had taken up golf during my playing days,” Yuvraj said at an event, reported Times of India.
"I feel that any sport that helps you relax is going to be less taxing on the body and more fruitful for the mind. If you see the culture of golf in Australia, South Africa, England, the majority of the best cricketers have played golf from a very young age.
"You see a lot of these guys actually play a lot of golf and do 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 not just cricket. For any sportsperson in the world, they should play golf because eventually it will bring out the best in them in their sport."
Yuvraj further urged young Indian cricketers, in particular his two mentees Shubman Gill and Abhishek Sharma, to take up golf as it will, in his opinion, undoubtedly aid them in their batting.
"I have told them to play golf and I encourage them to play. It's very hard to find time, but I think the IPL is a good time for them to actually find time and hit some balls," Yuvraj said.
"It's up to them. Now they are superstars of the game and they have to decide what's going to help them 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 great for the mind."
Since retiring from cricket, Yuvraj has taken up playing golf very seriously. The 43-year-old is still in touch with cricket, however, and was most recently in action in the 2025 World Championship of Legends.