Rudra Pratap pronunciation (born 6 December 1985) popularly known as R.P Singh is an Indian former cricketer, who played for the India national cricket team in Test, One Day International and Twenty20 International cricket as a left arm fast-medium bowler.[2] In September 2018, he announced his retirement from all forms of cricket.[3] He was a member of the Indian team that won the 2007 T20 World Cup.

R. P. Singh
Personal information
Full name
Rudra Pratap Singh
Born (1985-12-06) 6 December 1985 (age 38)
Raebareli, Uttar Pradesh, India
Height5 ft 11 in (180 cm)[1]
BattingRight-handed
BowlingLeft-arm fast-medium
RoleBowler
International information
National side
Test debut21 January 2006 v Pakistan
Last Test18 August 2011 v England
ODI debut (cap 165)4 September 2005 v Zimbabwe
Last ODI16 September 2011 v England
ODI shirt no.9
T20I debut (cap 13)13 September 2007 v Scotland
Last T20I16 June 2009 v South Africa
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
2003–2015Uttar Pradesh
2007Leicestershire
2008–2010Deccan Chargers
2011Kochi Tuskers Kerala
2012Mumbai Indians
2013Royal Challengers Bangalore
2015–2018Gujarat
2016Rising Pune Supergiants
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI FC LA
Matches 14 58 94 136
Runs scored 116 104 922 443
Batting average 7.25 10.40 10.13 10.54
100s/50s 0/0 0/0 0/0 0/0
Top score 30 23* 47 35
Balls bowled 2,534 2,565 17,192 6,378
Wickets 40 69 301 190
Bowling average 42.05 33.95 30.57 28.73
5 wickets in innings 1 0 12 3
10 wickets in match 0 0 1 0
Best bowling 5/59 4/35 6/50 5/30
Catches/stumpings 6/– 13/– 35/– 40/–
Medal record
Men's Cricket
Representing  India
ICC T20 World Cup
Winner 2007 South Africa
ACC Asia Cup
Runner-up 2008 Pakistan
Source: CricketArchive, 28 October 2017

Early career

edit

He first came in contention during the Under-19 World Cup in Bangladesh in 2004, when he took eight wickets for a very impressive average of 24.75.[4] He later performed consistently in the Ranji Trophy for Uttar Pradesh[5] and impressive performances saw him earn a place in the ODI side in 2005.

International career

edit

In his third one-day match, Singh got his first man of the match award as he played his part as India restricted Sri Lanka to a modest 196 all out. Swinging the ball on a batting wicket, he took 4 important wickets to rattle Sri Lanka. His bowling figures of 8.5 overs, 2 maidens, 35 runs and 4 wickets announced his arrival on the international stage.[6] Singh was selected to make his Test debut in the 2nd Test against Pakistan in Faisalabad, Pakistan in January 2006. He won the man of the match award on his debut after taking 5 wickets in the match.[7]

Singh's 4 wicket-haul in the fourth match of the one-day series against Pakistan in 2006, helped India take an unassailable 3–1 lead in the series, and won him the man of the match award.[8] India went on to win the series 4–1.

Singh was favoured to Sreesanth for the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy due to his superior economy rate.[9] However, he was unable to maintain his level of performance, and was dropped from the side.

Singh was included in the Test squad for the tour to England and performed well, taking 5/59 at Lord's, his first five-wicket-haul in Tests.[10] In the one-day series he took seven wickets at 31.71 from five matches.[11]

Singh was selected to play in the 2007 ICC World Twenty20 tournament in South Africa in September 2007.[12] Singh emerged as the second-highest wicket-taker in the entire competition, taking 12 wickets in 7 matches at an average of 12.66 runs per wicket.[13] India won the 12-nation tournament after beating Pakistan in the final.[14] R.P. Singh's best figures were 4/13 in 4 overs in India's final Super-8 stage match in which they eliminated South Africa from the tournament.[15]

Singh was then selected for India's one-day home series against Australia and Pakistan that followed, playing four games in each series and picking up a total of 11 wickets.[16][17]

In August 2011 RP Singh was called up to the India squad for the remainder of the tour of England, he was recalled after a 3-year test absence due to an injury picked up Zaheer Khan which ruled him out of the tour.[18]

Singh played in the fourth test match of the series. Bowling the first over, his first four deliveries were down the leg side. Singh seemed more like a club bowler. His pace was drastically reduced to 120 km/h, and he seemed no threat to the England batsmen. Sir Ian Botham described it as one of the worst opening overs of test cricket he had seen. Sunil Gavaskar also criticised his selection as he was unfit. Other cricket experts and former players felt that Singh was selected only because of his close proximity with then Indian captain MS Dhoni.

Domestic career

edit

In 2006 it was announced that Singh would be signing for English side Leicestershire as their second overseas signing.[19] He was however unexpectedly recalled to the Indian side following their poor World Cup campaign and only made a handful of appearances.[20]

In 2015, he switched from Uttar Pradesh to Gujarat in domestic cricket.[21]

Indian Premier League

edit

In the second season of the Indian Premier League, Singh was highly successful and he emerged as the highest wicket taker of the tournament, with 23 from 16 matches thereby winning the Purple Cap.[22] Deccan Chargers emerged as winners of the tournament.[23] His performance early in the tournament earned him a spot in the Indian squad for the 2009 ICC World Twenty20.[24]

He later played for the Kochi Tuskers, after signing for them in 2011 from the Deccan Chargers. He was bought for $600,000 by the Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League Players Auction, 2012.[25] In the year 2013 in the IPL he was bought by Royal Challengers Bangalore in the players auction 2013 for $400,000. In the 2014 IPL Auctions, he was unsold and had a base price of Rs 1 crore. He played few matches for Rising Pune Supergiants in 2016 Indian Premier League.

References

edit
  1. ^ RP Singh’s profile on Sportskeeda
  2. ^ "R. P. Singh". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
  3. ^ "Former India seamer RP Singh retires". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
  4. ^ "ICC Under-19 World Cup 2004". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
  5. ^ "BOWLING IN RANJI TROPHY 2004/05 (ORDERED BY WICKETS)". cricketarchive. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
  6. ^ "Sri Lanka tour of India, 6th ODI: India v Sri Lanka at Rajkot, Nov 9, 2005". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
  7. ^ "India tour of Pakistan, 2nd Test: Pakistan v India at Faisalabad, Jan 21–25, 2006". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
  8. ^ "India tour of Pakistan, 4th ODI: Pakistan v India at Multan, Feb 16, 2006". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
  9. ^ "Champions Trophy 2006 – India Squad". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
  10. ^ "India tour of Ireland, England and Scotland, 1st Test: England v India at Lord's, Jul 19–23, 2007". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
  11. ^ "NatWest Series [India in England], 2007 / Records / Most wickets". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
  12. ^ "ICC WORLD TWENTY20, 2007 – India Squad / Players". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
  13. ^ "ICC World Twenty20, 2007 / Records / Most wickets". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
  14. ^ "ICC WORLD TWENTY20 2007 – Results". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
  15. ^ "ICC World Twenty20, 24th Match, Group E: South Africa v India at Durban, Sep 20, 2007". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
  16. ^ "Records / Australia in India ODI Series, 2007/08 / Most wickets". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
  17. ^ "Records / Pakistan in India ODI Series, 2007/08 / Most wickets". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
  18. ^ "India's Zaheer Khan ruled out of England series with ankle injury". The Guardian. London. 7 August 2011. Retrieved 7 August 2011.
  19. ^ "Leicestershire sign left-armer Singh". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
  20. ^ "Foxes eye replacement for Singh". BBC Sport. 16 May 2007. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
  21. ^ "Rudra Pratap Singh to bowl for Gujarat". Daily News & Analysis Sunday. 2 August 2015. Retrieved 13 September 2024 – via Newsbank.
  22. ^ "Indian Premier League 2009 – Records – Most wickets". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
  23. ^ "Indian Premier League, Final: Royal Challengers Bangalore v Deccan Chargers at Johannesburg, May 24, 2009".
  24. ^ "Indian squad for the World T20". Retrieved 3 June 2009.
  25. ^ "IPL Auction 2012". Retrieved 4 February 2012.
edit