Yuvraj gives golden advice for India before CWC25

Rakesh Thapliyal

Mumbai: 2011 World Cup winner Yuvraj Singh spoke about the privilege of playing the tournament on home soil at the ’50 days to go’ event.

With just 50 days remaining until India hosts the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025, 2011 Men’s Cricket World Cup Player of the Tournament, Yuvraj Singh expressed confidence in the team’s chances.

Reflecting on the special experience of playing a World Cup at home, Yuvraj stressed that while the occasion is significant, the key to success lies in the team staying true to their processes.

“I think the 50-over World Cup is the World Cup. It’s happening in India, and I think everybody should be really excited about it. These moments don’t come often in your life, I believe,” Yuvraj said at the ’50 days to go’ event held in Mumbai. “I feel it’s a great opportunity to create history. But that doesn’t mean that from the start, you think you’re winning it. You have to experience the whole enigma of it. You have to feel that you put in the process, and the results will come.”

The Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 will be played in India later this year.

“I think [the women’s team] lost a couple of finals. We’ve been there. And it’s really important that you enjoy this moment. Be in the moment rather than thinking ahead. “We were supporting the boys. Now, it’s time to support the girls.”

A home World Cup comes with added pressure, something that the former Indian southpaw knows plenty about. He had some golden advice for the players, who will play in front of the home crowd at the upcoming tournament.

“The fans are always wanting fours and sixes, or like wickets. That’s the game. They come to watch. They want entertainment. They want to be entertained,” he added. “But the point is that if you want to win the World Cup, you have to be in the situation where you were at, I think. There will be times where they’re going to feel that pressure. There will be times when things are not going to go well. And that’s the time when the experience, the self-belief, has to take over. The belief that I can be the player in this moment. I think every time you walk in the game, you have to believe that.”

Former skipper Mithali Raj was also alongside Yuvraj in the discussion panel and shared her experience on how women’s cricket has grown, right from her early years to reaching the final 2017 World Cup, where India ended up as the runners-up.

“Coming under BCCI was a huge thing in 2006. The infrastructure and domestic setup were all taken care, by the financial angle. Because before that there was hardly any international cricket. Now the girls play regularly, which helps a lot to keep the momentum,” Mithali said. “Coming under ICC was a big moment as well. I remember in the 2009 T20 World Cup, my father saw me on TV for the first time. Because there wasn’t much in the women’s game before that. I wanted to say goodbye to the sport because I was struggling with an injury since 2005. But when it was televised live by the ICC. My father watched it, those who wanted to be involved saw it. And that helped me continue in the game.

“I remember I was watching a Champions Trophy game between India and Pakistan in 2017, and I was packing, and suddenly the commentators said that this World Cup is the next big ICC event. And there was a promo, and the captain’s faces were there with the logo. And that really struck me. “So it wasn’t one moment, it’s been a journey, and it was good to have been a part of it.”

The Women’s World Cup will kick off on 30 September, with India featuring in the tournament opener against Sri Lanka in Bengaluru.

Catch all the action from ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025, September 30 onwards, LIVE and Exclusive on Star Sports Network and JioHotstar