Nathu Singh wants to bowl fast and make a lasting impact

He is young, he is tall, and he bowls fast and is aggressive – 21-year old Rajasthan pacer Nathu Singh is making a lot of waves in Indian cricket this year. He made his but against Delhi in the Ranji Trophy and returned with figures of 7/87. More than the wickets the talk was about his ability to bowl quick, and his natural pace. The national selectors took notice and he was drafted in the Board President’s XI for the tour game against touring South African team. Nathu impressed there as well and then came the IPL 2016 auction which not just earned him 3.2 crores but also nationwide recognition.

But an elbow injury just ahead of the season and he was out of it. “I really don’t care about the money. All I wanted to do was to play in the IPL. The injury came at a wrong time,” during an interaction with Indian Express Nathu said.

He hails from a relatively smaller city Sikar, near Jaipur in Rajasthan. When he joined the Mumbai Indians team for the IPL, everything was new for him, from the people to the atmosphere and the five-star hotels. “Seeing so many players from around the world was an entirely new experience for me. I took time to adjust to the new surroundings. It was only towards the end that I managed to befriend Jos (Buttler),”

The mega life of an IPL player comes at its own cost and for Nathu it was loneliness, but towards the end of the IPL he befriended England wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler. It wasn’t easy either, he knew no English while Buttler has a British accent. But as they say when two people get together they find their way out, and Nathu started to pick what his English friend intended to say and also managed to converse back a bit in his broken English. He expressed the desire to learn English and said, “Thoda ajeeb lagta hain. Mujhe bhi English seekhna hain. Agar time milta hain toh mein English speaking classes mein bharti hona chahta hoon…dekhte hain (It feels a bit strange. I want to learn English. If time permits I will join a English-speaking course),”

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Those who have followed Indian cricket in the 2000s can immediately identify him as someone who looks similar to Baroda pacer Munaf Patel. Who also came around as a tall bowler who bowled quick. Nathu agreed that a lot of people say that he looks like the veteran pacer. “Yeah, people do tease me a lot. They keep saying…tu toh Munaf jaisa hi dikta hain. Uske jaise fast bowler bhi ban gaya. Frankly, I have never thought of such comparisons, but it is funny,” he said.

Early in his career, the elbow injury kept him out of the IPL and with that closed doors to a lot of opportunities, the people who matter – his coaches have taken that seriously and are doing their best to ensure he stays fit. “All my seniors and coaches have advised to take my fitness seriously. Every aspect of my training is being monitored — from my exercise routines to my diet. I have chalked it out in detail,”

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