‘Can you survive five days?’ – Yograj Singh gives harsh reality check to Vaibhav Suryavanshi’s Test aspirations

Yograj Singh, who is a former Indian pacer and father of legendary all-rounder Yuvraj Singh, is known for not mincing his words and speaking his mind. The 67-year-old recently urged the young crop of Indian cricketers, including one of the finds of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, to work on their fitness and look to play Test cricket instead of solely focusing on the white-ball formats.

The 14-year-old Suryavanshi became the youngest to play in the IPL when he debuted for Rajasthan Royals in the 18th edition of the tournament. He mesmerised the cricket fraternity with his staggering performances, which included a remarkable century against former champions Gujarat Titans in Jaipur.

“My vision is Test cricket. Can you survive five days? That’s the real test. 50 overs – fair enough. 20 overs – fair enough. I don’t go by these formats. But since they (formats) are there, you should be fit enough to play all three formats. Why do you struggle? Because you are only concentrating on T20, IPL and 50 overs. Aaj toh 50 overs bhi nahi khel sakte hum log (Today, we cannot even play 50 overs). That’s the way we are,” Yograj told via Insidesport.

The former India speedster also took a dig at some coaches and office bearers who work in air-conditioned rooms instead of sweating hard on the field with budding talents.

“All the coaches and all the administrators want to sit in the air conditioning and do things. Here, I am under 48 degrees Celsius, having a passion to produce more brilliant cricketers like Yuvraj Singh,” he added.

Suryavanshi now has a new challenge ahead of him as he has been named in the India U-19 squad for the upcoming tour of England. India U-19 are set to travel to the United Kingdom to play five Youth ODIs and two Youth Tests, which will run from June 27 to July 20. Ayush Mhatre, who made his IPL debut this season while representing the Chennai Super Kings, has been named as the captain of the side.