India’s Simranjit Singh Included In The Ireland ODI Squad For The One-Off Series Against West Indies

Jan 12, 2019 at 12:41 AM

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India’s Simranjit Singh Included In The Ireland ODI Squad For The One-Off Series Against West Indies

The Story

Players of Indian origin are quite common members of cricketing teams around the world. A few like Gurinder Sandhu, Ish Sodhi, Jeetan Patel and others are quite established as well. It’s not something strange, but it’s always a matter of joy to watch such names in action regardless of the fact that they play for other nations.

The latest to join this list of players is Simaranjit Singh, a cricketer of Punjabi root settled in Ireland. He has broken into broken into the Irish national team on the back of consistent all-around performances in Ireland’s first-class competitions.

The 30-year-old, nicknamed Simi by his teammates once plied learned the rope of the game in India, playing for various age group levels in Punjab. His family stays in Mohali.

He has already made his international debut against New Zealand in May this year and is now in the Irish squad for their one-off One-dayer against West Indies to be played on September 13.

The Test Dream

Simi played for close to seven years as a junior cricketer in Punjab representing junior teams at the U-14 and U-17 level. He kept moving ahead, and in 2004, he scored 725 runs in the state inter-district U-17 championship.

However, soon fate intervened, and his case was overlooked by the selectors when Punjab’s U-19 squad was announced.

“He (Simaranjit) was named the best player at the 46th National School Games held in Vijayawada in 2001,” father Amarjit Singh shares. Despite being a consistent performer, Simi failed to make the cut at the U-19 level.

“It was a frustrating time for me and my family. My dream to play for India was nipped in the bud,” Simi recollects.

“He was hardworking, he was treated badly here (in Punjab). Simi didn’t get the chance to prove his mettle at the U-19 level,” says Bharti Vij, Simaranjit’s coach. “He was an opening batsman with a sound technique,” he adds.

Although his dream to play for India was snapped by early setbacks, he still dreamt of playing Test cricket.

Ireland was granted Test status by the ICC on June 22, this year. And, Simaranjit wants to fulfill his long-standing dream of playing Test cricket.

“Although, I didn’t play international cricket for India, hopefully, I’ll play my first Test for Ireland soon,” Simi told TOI, from Dublin.

Tough Road To Glory

Simi migrated to Ireland in 2005 to pursue hotel management. Later on, his friend and former teammate persuaded him to pick up the cricket gear once again and continue playing in Ireland while simultaneously focussing on academics. And, eventually, he has now made it to the national side.

“I would play cricket on the weekend by paying five euros per game. I worked at a grocery store so that I could afford to pay to play cricket,” reminisces Simi.

Within a year after restarting his cricket activities, he went on to play for Malahide Cricket Club in Dublin as a professional.

In 2008, he once tried to get back to the Indian cricket scene when the first edition of IPL announced. He gave trials for Kings XI Punjab but could not make the cut.

But, in 2009, he earned his work visa from Old Balverydale Cricket Club and returned to Dublin and played for the club for the next three years before joining YMCA Cricket Club in 2012.

Simi, an all-rounder, is an off-spinner and took up the art after watching Saqlain Mushtaq. His main highlight of his club career has been his appearance in the Leinster Senior Cup – the first-division tournament in Ireland – for the club in 2013. He took 56 wickets and also scored 786 runs in the club’s title win.

“In 2015, I shifted to provincial team Leinster Lighting and have been playing for the team since then. Playing alongside the likes of Kevin O’Brien, John Anderson and George Dockrell has helped my game. Earlier, I used to bat a bit slow, but O’Brien told me to inject aggression in my game,” he states.

The tough residency rules did cause problems for Simi but his ECB Level 2 coaching degree and personal trainer certification helped him to stay in Ireland before winning the Irish citizenship in May this year.

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