OTD | Former Indian all-rounder Rabindra ‘Robin’ Singh was born in 1963

Indian cricket has always missed a true all-rounder ever since the retirement of the great Kapil Dev until one player gave some hope. Robin Singh was born in Trinidad and Tobago on the 14th of September in 1963. The Caribbean-born star chose to play for India and made his debut in 1989 at the age of 25. 

The then-Indian team was in a period of transition as young Robin Singh couldn’t impress the selection committee. After failures in his first few matches, Robin Singh was dropped from the team.

The left-handed batter and right-arm pacer then spent a long time grinding it out in the domestic circuit. Playing for Tamil Nadu, Robin Singh became a huge part of the team as he gave it his all to make it back to the Indian side. 

Robin Singh: The Indian star who never gave up

Indian cricket, post the 1996 ODI World Cup, were playing the Titan Cup at home. The other teams in the tournament were Australia and South Africa. Robin Singh made his comeback to the Indian side in a must-win match at Mohali against Australia. 

After years of struggle in the domestic circuit, this was the chance he was waiting for. Robin Singh scored 6 runs with the bat and picked 2/45 from his 7 overs, which included the wickets of Mark Waugh and Stuart Law. 

From there, both Sachin Tendulkar and Mohammad Azharuddin made Robin Singh a key member of the team. Robin Singh and Ajay Jadeja became the biggest stars of the Indian middle order. The two stars play a key role in many of India’s key wins in ODI cricket. 

Robin Singh scored his only ODI century during a game against Sri Lanka in 1997. The same year he also picked his first ODI fifer against the same team. Incidentally, Robin Singh also picked his second ODI fifer against Sri Lanka during the 1999 World Cup. 

The only Test match Robin Singh played came during India’s tour of Zimbabwe in 1998. The Indian cricket team went on to lose the game and that was sadly it for Robin Singh in the longest format. 

Robin Singh played a total of 136 ODI matches and scored 2336 runs with one century and nine half-centuries. After his retirement, he took up coaching and was part of many teams in the IPL where his zest for the game and fielding in particular was seen via his teams. 

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