Rohit was speaking to Suresh Raina in an Instagram live when they recounted how different the team environment was back in the mid-2000s. Rohit made his international debut during an ODI in June 2007, but says the dressing room at the time, unlike now, was a lot quieter due to the presence of a lot of “seniors”.

Yuvraj, in particular, gave Rohit the chills. “When I joined the team, there were so many serious people in the team at the time,” he told Raina. “The team environment was bit of a school-type environment – we couldn’t talk too much, we couldn’t do this and that.

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“I was very scared of Yuvi pa. If we made any noise here or there, Yuvi pa would stare at us … ‘who’s the one talking?’.”

However, Yuvraj was also among the most supportive players for the youngsters, and Rohit and Raina realised that as they eased into the dressing room. “He was always very supportive,” said Rohit. “First two years, I wasn’t very close to him, but after that, I realised his nature, his personality, it was different.

“So the youngsters coming into the team, they were immediately comfortable with having a person like that around the team. If a guy who you’ve watched keenly for years is coming to help you, the impact is different.”

“You almost finished my son’s career, now you have to sign this shirt for him.” – Chris Broad to Yuvraj after Stuart had been hit for six sixes in an over.https://t.co/5QDTapU68x

— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) April 26, 2020

Raina concurred, saying in the 2011 World Cup in particular, Yuvraj set the standards. “He had so many problems with his health around that time, but nobody knew,” said Raina.

“I was batting with him against West Indies, and I saw him vomiting. So I asked him if he’s alright … the whole World Cup, he was so solid. In terms of bowling, batting, fielding, we just didn’t know he was coping with such pain within him.”

Yuvraj was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer later in 2011, but he would successfully came through the treatment and returned to the national side to continue his cricket career, before announcing his retirement in June 2019.