Yuvraj Singh hints at mentoring role to prepare Team India for challenges ahead
Kolkata, Jan 14: World Cup-winning hero, Yuvraj Singh on Saturday hinted at a potential mentorship role in the future to mentally prepare the Indian cricket team for the challenges ahead.
India has waited endlessly in their quest for an ICC trophy, with the team suffering another defeat in the 2023 World Cup final against Australia last year.
India won the Champions Trophy under Mahendra Singh Dhoni in 2013, while their last World Cup triumph came in 2011.
"I feel that we have played a lot of finals but not won one. I was part of one of the finals when we lost to Pakistan in 2017," the 42-year-old said while inaugurating 'Yuvraj Centres of Excellence' at Merlin Rise here.
"In the coming years, we definitely need to work on, as a country and as an Indian team, performing better under pressure.
"Australia have won six World Cups, and we have (won) two. How we win major championships is something we need to work on," added Yuvraj.
India have lost two consecutive World Test Championship finals (2021, 2023) and exited the 2015 and 2019 ODI World Cups at the the semifinal stage.
India, after emerging champions in the 2007 T20 World Cup, were ousted in the 2014 final and lost in the last-four stage of the 2016 and 2022 editions.
Expressing concern, he said, "I feel, yes, there is something (missing). When the big moment comes, our physical preparation is there, but mentally we need to make those decisions.
"I think, that is something I was talking about -- motivating the young guys, teaching them how to handle pressure and play their game. That's been our challenge. We have the game, and we have guys who can bat under pressure, but the whole team has to do that, not just one or two guys.
"Mentoring is something I love to do. In the coming years, when my kids are settled, I want to give back to cricket and help the young guys get better. I think we face a lot of mental challenges in big tournaments. I believe in the mental aspect, I can really come in and work with these guys in the future.
"I feel that I can contribute a lot, especially in the middle order. I have the confidence to work with the young guys, addressing not only their technique but also the mental challenges that come with cricket."
IPL route
The stylish former India all-rounder indicated he would like to be a mentor of an IPL side.
"Let's see what opportunities I get, but my priority is my kids right now. Once they start school, I will have more time. so I can pick up (coaching). I love working with the young guys, especially my state boys, and I feel that mentoring is something that I would love to do, and definitely to be part of one of the IPL teams, I'm definitely looking at.
"I asked Mr Ashish Nehra (Gujarat Titans) for a job, but he declined it. So, let's see where else I can get a position, but at the moment, I have to balance."
"So, definitely in the coming years, I want to give back to cricket and help the young guys get better. I can contribute a lot."
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Single higher education regulator bill tabled in LS; Oppn flags ‘centralisation,' JPC likely
New Delhi: A bill to set up a 13-member body to regulate institutions of higher education was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday.
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan introduced the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, which seeks to establish an overarching higher education commission along with three councils for regulation, accreditation, and ensuring academic standards for universities and higher education institutions in India.
Meanwhile, the move drew strong opposition, with members warning that it could weaken institutional autonomy and result in excessive centralisation of higher education in India.
The Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025, earlier known as the Higher Education Council of India (HECI) Bill, has been introduced in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
The proposed legislation seeks to merge three existing regulatory bodies, the University Grants Commission (UGC), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), into a single unified body called the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan.
At present, the UGC regulates non-technical higher education institutions, the AICTE oversees technical education, and the NCTE governs teacher education in India.
Under the proposed framework, the new commission will function through three separate councils responsible for regulation, accreditation, and the maintenance of academic standards across universities and higher education institutions in the country.
According to the Bill, the present challenges faced by higher educational institutions due to the multiplicity of regulators having non-harmonised regulatory approval protocols will be done away with.
The higher education commission, which will be headed by a chairperson appointed by the President of India, will cover all central universities and colleges under it, institutes of national importance functioning under the administrative purview of the Ministry of Education, including IITs, NITs, IISc, IISERs, IIMs, and IIITs.
At present, IITs and IIMs are not regulated by the University Grants Commission (UGC).
Government to refer bill to JPC; Oppn slams it
The government has expressed its willingness to refer it to a joint committee after several members of the Lok Sabha expressed strong opposition to the Bill, stating that they were not given time to study its provisions.
Responding to the opposition, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the government intends to refer the Bill to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for detailed examination.
Congress Lok Sabha MP Manish Tewari warned that the Bill could result in “excessive centralisation” of higher education. He argued that the proposed law violates the constitutional division of legislative powers between the Union and the states.
According to him, the Bill goes beyond setting academic standards and intrudes into areas such as administration, affiliation, and the establishment and closure of university campuses. These matters, he said, fall under Entry 25 of the Concurrent List and Entry 32 of the State List, which cover the incorporation and regulation of state universities.
Tewari further stated that the Bill suffers from “excessive delegation of legislative power” to the proposed commission. He pointed out that crucial aspects such as accreditation frameworks, degree-granting powers, penalties, institutional autonomy, and even the supersession of institutions are left to be decided through rules, regulations, and executive directions. He argued that this amounts to a violation of established constitutional principles governing delegated legislation.
Under the Bill, the regulatory council will have the power to impose heavy penalties on higher education institutions for violating provisions of the Act or related rules. Penalties range from ₹10 lakh to ₹75 lakh for repeated violations, while establishing an institution without approval from the commission or the state government could attract a fine of up to ₹2 crore.
Concerns were also raised by members from southern states over the Hindi nomenclature of the Bill. N.K. Premachandran, an MP from the Revolutionary Socialist Party representing Kollam in Kerala, said even the name of the Bill was difficult to pronounce.
He pointed out that under Article 348 of the Constitution, the text of any Bill introduced in Parliament must be in English unless Parliament decides otherwise.
DMK MP T.M. Selvaganapathy also criticised the government for naming laws and schemes only in Hindi. He said the Constitution clearly mandates that the nomenclature of a Bill should be in English so that citizens across the country can understand its intent.
Congress MP S. Jothimani from Tamil Nadu’s Karur constituency described the Bill as another attempt to impose Hindi and termed it “an attack on federalism.”
_vb_22.jpeg)
