Nathu Singh: India's next biggest fast bowling hope

It’s not even been a year since this tall, strongly built fast bowler made his first-class debut, but he’s been making all the right noises since then and impressing all the right people. Talking of “right people”, the young fast bowler managed to impress the great Rahul Dravid even before making his debut, prompting him to convey to Mr. Amrit Mathur: “this boy" is good, please keep an eye out for him”.

October 2015 it was, when Nathu Singh, the son of a labourer in a wire factory near Jaipur took the field for the first time at first class level, for Rajasthan against Delhi; a batting line up that had probably the most talented and experienced opening pair of all teams playing the Ranji trophy in Unmukt Chand and Gautam Gambhir.

Early October is when winter sets in Rajasthan and thus, there is considerable help for fast bowlers here if bowlers pitch the ball in the right areas. True to its nature, the wicket helped the seamers and Rajasthan bowled Delhi out for a paltry 138 in their first innings, with Deepak Chahar and Aniket Chaudhary sharing 8 wickets between them. The debutant Nathu, though, had to settle for just one.

Rajasthan responded with a more than decent 240 in their first innings, but come the 2^nd innings, the Delhi batsmen were better prepared for what was on offer. They dug deep to not only erase Rajasthan’s lead easily but also get a massive lead of 335 themselves, setting a target of 336 for Rajasthan to win the contest.

A team scoring 437 would generally mean that the batsmen completely dominated proceedings and poor bowlers were running for cover. But in this case, one bowler who could hold his head high while returning to the pavilion at the end of the innings, was young Nathu Singh.

The Reason – he had figures of 7 for 87 in almost 32 overs in this innings. Astonishingly, all 7 of his victims were the Delhi line-up’s top 7 batsmen.

The match petered out into a draw on day 4 but a star was well and truly born. This spell earned him a place in the Board President XI's team for a two-day warm-up fixture against South Africa, who had just arrived for a series of 4 test matches.

An exciting prospect

At just 21 years of age, Nathu Singh can be considered the most exciting prospect of all the young fast bowlers the selectors have kept their eyes on. What catches the attention of everyone watching is his ability to bowl long and accurate spells at sustained pace of over 140 kmph, which is something an Indian skipper always misses in his arsenal, especially in overseas test matches.

Most of the Indian fast bowlers stray in their lines and lengths when they go for that extra yard of pace. Batsmen in this age of T20 cricket are well equipped at handling pace, that unless it is combined with accuracy, it actually benefits them rather than causing discomfort.

This is an area where Singh stands out.

Recent performances

In the recently concluded Duleep Trophy match in the last week of August, playing against an India Green line-up that boasted of a few international cricketers, he returned first-innings figures of 6 for 53 in less than 13 overs.

His victims included the likes of Robin Uthappa and Saurabh Tiwary.

Another interesting aspect of his growth and ability as a fast bowler is how well he has performed in the T20 matches he has played in so far. In what is India’s second biggest T20 tournament after the IPL, the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, he bowled 2 remarkable spells of 4 for 13 in his 4 overs, and 4 for 25 off 4 overs, against Kerala and Tripura respectively.

It’s a shame that his performances ended up on the losing side on both occasions, but what was evident was the fact that here was a bowler who could not only bowl long and penetrating spells in 4-day games, but also handle the rigours of a T20 match with aplomb.

Such is the talent scouting in T20 cricket these days that, fortunately for cricketers, there is hardly a good performance in this format, anywhere in the world, that goes unnoticed. Nathu’s efforts in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy were no different. His record after this tournament stood at 21 wickets after 11 matches at an average of almost 11 and an economy of under 6, which as we know in T20 cricket, is like gold.

IPL bid

Unsurprisingly, there was a bidding war when his name came up during the IPL auction, with multiple sides showing huge interest in acquiring his services, but so impressed were the management of the Mumbai Indians that they splurged INR 3.2 crores on this boy, assured that this is an investment that’ll reap them rich dividends.

The presence of star fast bowlers like Malinga, McClenaghan, Southee, Vinay Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah meant that he didn’t get to play a single game in a tournament, but the amount of experience and knowledge he would have gained by just being with the team, and learning the tricks of the trade from the likes of Ricky Ponting, Sachin Tendulkar and Shane Bond would surely hold him in good stead come the next season.

The Future

Team India is playing 13 test matches in the home season that starts from 22^nd October, and in such a long season, injuries, especially to fast bowlers, are bound to happen. The first line of pacers includes Ishant, Bhuvneshwar, Shami and Umesh Yadav, but an injury to any of these or a loss of form can open the door for this talented fast bowler from Rajasthan, to come and make his mark at the international scene.

His pace and talent will be an asset to the team when it embarks on overseas tours next year, after this long home season, and there can hardly be any doubt that with his skills, he is bound to excel on pitches in South Africa, Australia, England and New Zealand.

There have been very few fast bowlers who have generated such a buzz in just their debut season at first-class level.

One would hope that in Nathu Singh’s case, it won’t be a case of all buzz and no substance, and this boy would go on to play for the country very soon and forge a great career for himself at the highest level. Fingers crossed!

One would hope that in Nathu Singh’s case, it won’t be a case of all buzz and no substance, and this boy would go on to play for the country very soon and forge a great career for himself at the highest level. Fingers crossed!