5 min readNew DelhiUpdated: May 15, 2026 07:43 PM IST
Former Indian cricketer-actor Yograj Singh has always spoken his mind unfiltered, often causing significant controversies. Even his son, cricketer Yuvraj Singh, doesn’t live with him, and chose to move to Mumbai with his wife, actor Hazel Keech. The couple has two children together – son Orion (born 2022), and daughter Aura (born 2023). However, before tying the knot with Hazel, Yuvraj’s father Yograj had already told him to get married to an ‘Irish or English’ girl. In an earlier interview, Yograj had opened up about the cricketer’s marriage to her.
During a chat with Krishnank Atrey on his YouTube channel, he revealed that the society pressured him to get his son married early on, but he opposed that. “People wanted me to get Yuvraj married off in his 20s. I said, ‘Is he old already?’ When he turned 38, I told him, ‘Now you can think about it. I can’t choose for you. It’s your life, so find your partner.’ But I did request him to change the breed. People hearing this might oppose it, but we wanted an Irish or English girl in the family. And then Hazel (Keech) came into our lives. They have such beautiful kids, and they treat me like their friend. I don’t call Hazel my daughter-in-law, she is my daughter.”
The former cricketer’s comment has invited a significant backlash on social media and was deemed dehumanising and misogynist.
‘Yuvraj’s children would’ve had the same fate as he did’
In another interview in October last year, Yograj Singh had revealed that it took him more than two years to first meet his grandson, Orion, because his schedule wasn’t aligning with his son Yuvraj. He also revealed that one of the reasons for this distance is because he would want to bring up his grandchildren like he brought up his son. “Yuvi and Hazel both say, ‘Granddad and grandmom are here’. It took me over two years to meet Orion, but never once in those two years did I feel… I would pray to God and tell Him, ‘They are also your grandchildren; if You meet them, I shall consider that I have met them too’.”
The former cricketer-actor added that Yuvraj knows if he hands over his children to his father, they will receive the same strict treatment that he did as a child. “Yes, but the day Yuvi hands his children over to me, they will meet the same fate as he did. You can only forge gold through fire. There will be no mercy, because there is only one path… That’s what they fear, and that’s why we aren’t together,” he said, during a chat with SMTV.
‘Yuvraj’s family keeps a distance from me’
During a separate interview with Highbrow Studios last year, Yograj shared that he would want his entire family to be together. “It is a dream of mine to have my entire family together with me; two wives, all four children, my grandchildren… Driving around in 10 cars together…” When asked if he has ever expressed this desire to his family, he replied, “I have, but they don’t speak to me. They keep a distance from me.”
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The former cricketer-actor continued, “If I declare that you are my daughter, who can say otherwise? They know that their father is a decent person. But they also know that I like my own company. They know that I am closer to God than I am with them. They know that I have a separate family. They know this. I have never missed them, but I am grateful that I was able to give them a good upbringing.”
Even Yuvraj Singh had agreed with his father’s thought in an appearance on Ranveer Allahbadia’s podcast. He said that he wouldn’t want his son to become a cricketer because of what he went through. “I just hope that he doesn’t get after Orion. He keeps saying that I should put him in cricket, but I tell him, ‘Isko apni life jeene do (Let him live his life.)’ It’s because he was always a coach to me, and never a father. I don’t want that to happen with my son, I want to be father to him.”
For the unversed, Yuvraj Singh is Yograj Singh’s son from his first marriage to Shabnam Kaur. After the couple’s divorce, he later married Satbir Kaur, with whom he has two children.
DISCLAIMER: The views expressed in this article reflect personal experiences and perspectives on industry standards and discrimination. This content is for informational purposes and is not intended as a definitive commentary on professional or social conduct.
