From Chambal to India U19 captain: Yashbardhan Singh Chauhan’s journey in blue
As Ajay Singh, principal of The Scindia School in Gwalior, watched his student plan cricket matches from behind the team’s meeting room, he was careful not to intervene. He wanted to see what the boy does when things get tough.
“If the situation became a challenge, he would discuss possible solutions,” recalls Singh in a chat with IndiaToday.in.
“He would take feedback and others would chime in. He was clear in his mind about what should be done in different situations. He definitely had that leadership instinct.”
That boy was Yashbardhan Singh Chauhan.
On 11 June, the BCCI named the 17-year-old right-handed all-rounder as the captain of the Indian men’s under-19 team for the upcoming tour of Sri Lanka: three one-day matches and two multi-day matches starting in Hambantota on July 4.
The news arrived, as it often does in Gwalior, via the local cricket network.
Yashbardhan first heard from Vijay Prakash Sharma, secretary of the Gwalior Division Cricket Association. His father Anami Singh Chauhan got a call shortly after from Sharma and Lavkesh Choudhary, the boy’s childhood coach at Tansen Cricket Academy.
“I was unable to say anything for several minutes,” says Anami. “I felt like a dream that I’d been living for years had suddenly become a reality.
It’s a borrowed dream in many ways.
Having played cricket himself, Anami says he has a deep connection to the game and harbored a quiet hope that someone in his family would make it big. When Yashbardhan came, the signs were seen early.
“He showed a different kind of passion from a very young age,” says his father.
“If he ever missed a game, he would be extremely upset. He was always hungry to play and had a huge passion to step on the field.”
His mother, Reena Chauhan, watched from a different angle, one that notices the injury.
“He was hurt on several occasions, but he never gave up,” she says. “He always told us everything was fine and then he went back on the field.
When the news came about the captain, her first instinct was not to call anyone.
“The first thing we did was thank God.
CHAMBAL’S GRIT
Yashbardhan hails from the Chambal region, a belt of Madhya Pradesh known more for its gorges and folklore than its cricketing infrastructure. That’s exactly it, says Ajay Singh.
“If you look at the Chambal belt historically, the people here are very tough. They are fighters. They don’t give up easily. They have that attitude of just keep going until they get what they want. That’s one thing. Two, they have that fire in their belly.”
Infrastructure, notes Singh, has caught up with this attitude.
The Scindia family’s long association with cricket in the region – Madhavrao Scindia laid the early foundations and Jyotiraditya Scindia, now president of the MPCA, continued the work – helped create a proper cricketing ecosystem, anchored by the Gwalior Stadium, which hosted international matches.
This tour of Sri Lanka features not one but two players from the Chambal region – Yashbardhan as captain and Manal Chauhan in the multi-day squad.
The talent showed early enough to attract serious attention.
As a 13-year-old playing for Chambal Division in the inter-divisional AW Kanmadikar Under-13 Trophy, Yashbardhan scored 425 off 248 balls and 235 off 166 balls in the same tournament.
The news reached Chandrakant Pandit, the then coach of Madhya Pradesh, who came to the ground to see this prodigy with his own eyes. Yashbardhan was dismissed for 391 that day.
Pandit had seen enough.
FORGED IN SCHOOL
The Scindia School is where the cricketer became something more.
The school runs the HH Maharaja Madhavrao Memorial Cricket Tournament, one of the most competitive inter-school competitions in the country, and it was at the planning meetings for this tournament that Singh first saw Yashbardhan’s mind at work.
“I would sit in the back seat and watch him plan,” he says.
“He was clear in his mind about what should be done in different situations. If the team was trying to get a goal, he discussed the options.”
Off the field, the same instinct extended to his juniors at Shivaji House.
Even after he finished his own networking session, he held back—not because anyone asked him to, but because the younger boys were looking for him.
“Younger students would go to him for batting tips, stance and what to focus on,” says Singh.
“He would tell them how to bowl better and explain the finer nuances of batting and bowling. The coaches were there, of course, but he would go the extra mile to help the juniors learn.”
Singh teaches by watching. And what he saw told him a lot.
Yashbardhan loved physical education and painting – subjects that get you off your chair.
His English was weak at first, but he worked on it until he could converse comfortably.
Maybe little things. But Singh reads them differently.
“Characters are forged in adversity,” he says.
“Adversity means being challenged and stepping out of your comfort zone. Where do students face those challenges? On the field and in activities. That’s where they learn how to deal with failure and defeat. One thing that’s very important to me as a principal is how kids handle themselves when they don’t win. That’s where they learn resilience and the ability to bounce back.”
Yashbardhan has just completed his class 12 exams. He is 17.
Sri Lanka tour camp starts June 23; the squadron departs on June 30.
Tougher tours, bigger opponents and louder occasions will come – or so everyone in Gwalior believes.
Ajay Singh has a specific image in mind.
“He’s leading the Boys in Blue right now,” says the director.
“But my dream for Yash is for him to go from Scindia blue to India blue. Hopefully God willing and with his hard work he should be able to do it.”
Two blues. One way. It’s already started.
– The end
Issued by:
Kingshuk Kusari
Published on:
June 15, 2026 11:06 AM IST