I am sure Yuvraj Singh would be proud that his namesake has created history, says Yuvraj Singh Samra’s father

Yuvraj Singh Samra with parents Baljeet Samra and Hoshiar Kaur and sister Sandeep Samra. (Image via special arrangement)

“I was a big fan of Yuvraj Singh’s batting. So when I and my wife Hoshiar Kaur were blessed with a son, we named him after Yuvraj Singh. To see our Yuvraj hit a T20 World Cup hundred and to become the youngest batter to do so is a special feeling. I am sure Yuvraj Singh too would be proud that his namesake has created history in the T20 World Cup. To play in a World Cup has been Yuvraj’s dream,” Baljeet told The Indian Express from Toronto.

While Baljeet did various odd jobs in his early years in Canada, he would also play cricket for local clubs. His son too went to some of these club matches.

A mother’s sacrifice

A young Yuvraj Singh Samra with his parents Baljeet Samra and Hoshiar Samra (Image via special arrangement)

The Samras would enrol Yuvraj at the Australasia Cricket Academy at the age of eight. With Yuvraj’s interest growing in cricket, his mother would give up her job at a car company to accompany Yuvraj to coaching classes. “Those were tough times as coaching sessions here can cost upto 100 dollars per hour. But we managed and we knew that Yuvraj’s hard work will not go to waste,” Baljeet said. During the winter months in Canada, Yuvraj would travel to India to train.

Yuvraj, who was trained initially by Amarinder Bhinder, a Cricket South Africa Level 3 coach living in Toronto, would break into the district Under-16 and Under-19 teams at the age of 12 and 13 respectively. He made his Canadian senior team debut in the ICC World Cup League 2 qualifiers against New Zealand last year.

“In winters, we would also travel to Chandigarh as well Amritsar to train under coaches Sandeep Sawal and Gagandeep Singh apart from training in England. He just wanted to play and practice wherever he could and be it winters or summers, he did not want anything to create any hindrance for him,” Baljeet said.

Sandeep Kharat coached Yuvraj at the Australasia Cricket Academy where he was enrolled at the age of eight. (Image via special arrangement)

Sandeep Kharat, the coach at the Australasia Cricket Academy, recalls the steady rise of Yuvraj.

“Right from when he came to train under us, his determination was something to be admired. He wanted to be an opener and while his focus was on staying at the crease and accumulating runs like in ODI cricket, he developed into a batsman with power hitting abilities. Imagine a 12-13 year old kid playing for U16 as well U19 teams and tearing apart the bowling attacks in club cricket as well all junior age groups in Canada. His lofted shots, cover drives are something which Yuvraj has displayed right from junior days. Today’s knock was his best,” Kharat said.

In the 2011 World Cup, Yuvraj Singh had played a knock of 113 against West Indies at Chepauk. Fifteen years later, his namesake thrilled the Chepauk crowd.

“Yuvraj met Yuvraj Singh in the global T20 League in 2019 as well the Super 60. To see Yuvraj hit a hundred at the same ground where Yuvraj also hit an ODI hundred is something special,” Baljeet said.

Nitin Sharma is an Assistant Editor with the sports team of The Indian Express. Based out of Chandigarh, Nitin works with the print sports desk while also breaking news stories for the online sports team. A Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Award recipient for the year 2017 for his story ‘Harmans of Moga’, Nitin has also been a three-time recipient of the UNFPA-supported Laadli Media Awards for Gender Sensitivity for the years 2022, 2023 and 2024 respectively. His latest Laadli Award, in November 2025, came for an article on Deepthi Jeevanji, who won India’s first gold medal at the World Athletics Para Championship and was taunted for her unusual features as a child. Nitin mainly covers Olympics sports disciplines with his main interests in shooting, boxing, wrestling, athletics and much more. The last 17 years with The Indian Express has seen him unearthing stories across India from as far as Andaman and Nicobar to the North East. Nitin also covers cricket apart from women’s cricket with a keen interest. Nitin has covered events like the 2010 Commonwealth Games, the 2011 ODI World Cup, 2016 T20 World Cup and the 2017 AIBA World Youth Boxing Championships. An alumnus of School of Communication Studies, Panjab University, from where he completed his Masters in Mass Communications degree, Nitin has been an avid quizzer too. A Guru Nanak Dev University Colour holder, Nitin’s interest in quizzing began in the town of Talwara Township, a small town near the Punjab-Himachal Pradesh border. When not reporting, Nitin's interests lie in discovering new treks in the mountains or spending time near the river Beas at his hometown. ... Read More

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