The forgotten Nathu Singh hopes for a chance in this year's IPL

A majority might have forgotten Nathu Singh, this youngster who was surprisingly picked up Mumbai Indians for a whopping price tag of 3.2 crores last year. It was a dream come true for Nathu as his life completely changed. From a lower middle-class family which scraped through the month with a mere 8000 salary brought home by his father; that IPL auction was like a lottery win for them.

However, things have changed since then, the 21-year-old who injured his shoulder just before the campaign last year was sidelined for the whole event and did not feature even once. Even after the Indian Premier League got over, he never really could get going. He was in and out of the Rajasthan Ranji squad and was hardly bowling at a speed he once used to.

He knew he had to come back otherwise, it would have curtains even before he entered the stage. He talked to Times of India about the same and explained his downfall, he said, “I am a kind of bowler who relies on pace. But throughout last season, I just could not step on the pace. I was bowling slowly and my heart wasn’t into it.”

He is fit again, bowling at his natural speed and his fitness has hit the peak at a right time. With IPL auction around the corner, Nathu would be looking to hit the bullseye once again. With not a lot of performances behind his back to support him in the auctions but he hopes to do well. He has set up a base price of INR 30 lakh.

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Nathu would be glad if he is picked by any of the franchises as money is not the concern this time and it never was for him. Though, the last auction yielded him INR 2.8 crores after tax deductions. He used the money wisely as he is building a house for his family which is worth 1.5 crores. He also bought himself a car which would help him get around a bit. And another 50 lakh went into land investments.

“My family has always lived in a shanty and so, my priority was gifting them a house. I bought a car, I was travelling on a bike, which was risky. So I thought I should buy a car,” he said.

He also talked about his dream of playing for India and his IPL selection meant he was getting somewhere towards it. He said, “I have always wanted to play for India and being picked up by a top IPL side meant I was slowly getting there.”