"After taking 10-12 catches, your hands turned red" - Virender Sehwag recalls former India cricketer's tough fielding drills

Former India opening batter Virender Sehwag spoke about how his hands would turn red after catching drills with former India cricketer Yograj Singh during his younger days. The 46-year-old said that Singh would give close range catches to players and nobody who was a part of the drill could raise an objection.

Sehwag also revealed that the players eventually had to tell him to pay attention to others to try and stop the catching drill. He said on "The Life Savers Show with Neha Bedi":

“Paaji, please forgive me. But the kind of catches he gave us standing at a distance of 15 yards. After taking 10-12 catches, your hands turned red. But you couldn’t say no. So finally we had to tell him that there are other boys around, and you can give them catching drills as well. It is not just us.”

Yograj Singh had criticized India's fielding during the recently concluded Test series against England. He had urged the players to improve their fielding levels to complement the bowling unit.

Virender Sehwag calls for youngsters to play age-group cricket before pursuing IPL dreams

Former India opening batter Virender Sehwag said that it was important for younger players to feature in age-group cricket before they played in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The 46-year-old felt it was fine for players to have the aim of playing the T20 league, as long as they played other tournaments like Ranji Trophy.

"The key is to play Under-19s, First-class cricket, and then the IPL. It can’t be that you don’t play the others, but only play the IPL. The IPL can be an aim, but you need to play other tournaments such as Under-19s, Ranji Trophy, and Duleep Trophy, and then you can get a chance in the IPL," he said.

Virender Sehwag's elder son Aryavir Sehwag was selected in Delhi's Under-16 squad for the Vijay Merchant Trophy in December 2022. Earlier in 2025, he was picked by South Delhi Superstarz for ₹1 lakh in the Delhi Premier League (DPL).