This time last year there was a buzz about an upcoming fast bowler from Rajasthan
Nathu Singh bowls for Indian Board Presidentu00c3u00a2u00c2u0080u00c2u0099s XI against South Africa at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai last year
Greater Noida: This time last year there was a buzz about an upcoming fast bowler from Rajasthan. It was partly because of the boy’s potential and partly because of his humble background.
Nathu Singh bowls for Indian Board President’s XI against South Africa at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai last year. Pic/Atul Kamble
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Those who saw him and that included the likes of former Australian pacer Glenn McGrath knew he had pace, could move the ball and it was only a question of when and not if he would represent his state or bigger teams. Then came his Ranji Trophy debut against Delhi at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium where he scalped seven wickets in the second innings of that game.
Twelve wickets in his debut first-class season and an opportunity to play for the Board President xi against the visiting Proteas last year was followed by rave reviews and a heavy pay cheque of R3.2 crore having been picked by the Mumbai Indians.
For what he did last season he was an obvious choice to be a part of the Duleep Trophy squad. The 21-year-old didn’t do his reputation any harm on the opening day of the first Duleep Trophy game when he dismissed India Green opener Robin Uthappa with a delivery that came in viciously to dislodge his off-stump.
Splendid bowling
Post the dinner break on Day One, Nathu also dismissed Jalaj Saxena and then trapped Rajat Paliwal in front of the stumps to leave Greens tottering at 31 for 3. His burst was the reason Suresh Raina’s team must have felt they gave away the advantage they had gained bowling first. On the second day when it looked like that Saurabh Tiwary and Ashok Dinda were on course to go past the Red’s score, the pacer came back to dismiss the latter.
Bouncer to good effect
A bouncer to unsettle him followed by another one at the stumps roots. In the same over he bowled Pragyan Ojha proving that bowling fuller at the lower order is usually useful as he became the first Indian domestic cricketer to have a first class five-for with the pink ball. Tiwary’s wicket in his next following over gave him second best first class bowling figures and his team a lead of ten runs.
His spell though can’t be considered flawless because of the regular no balls that he bowled — six of them from the total of nine. Since Nathu has trained at the MRF Pace Foundation in Chennai under McGrath he would know how much did the director focuses on these aspects.
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