Robin Singh (cricketer)

Not to be confused with the Indian cricketer Robin Singh Jr..

Rabindra Ramnarine "Robin" Singh (born 14 September 1963) is an Indian former cricketer and cricket coach. He represented India in one Test and 136 ODIs between 1989 and 2001 as an all-rounder. He has coached the Indian Premier League's Mumbai Indians since 2010 and the Caribbean Premier League's Barbados Tridents since 2013. He has also coached the Deccan Chargers in the IPL's inaugural year.^[1] As a player, he was known for his calmness and ability to perform under pressure. He brought to Indian cricket world class fielding.^[2][3][4][5] He was a part of the squad which finished as runners-up at the 2000 ICC Champions Trophy.

Robin Singh

Personal information
Full name	Rabindra Ramnarine Singh
Born	(1963-09-14) 14 September 1963 (age 60) Princes Town, Trinidad and Tobago
Batting	Left-handed
Bowling	Right-arm medium
Role	All-rounder
International information
National side	India (1989–2001)
Only Test (cap 217)	7 October 1998 v Zimbabwe
ODI debut (cap 71)	11 March 1989 v West Indies
Last ODI	3 April 2001 v Australia
ODI shirt no.	6
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI FC LA Matches 1 136 137 228 Runs scored 27 2,336 6,997 4,057 Batting average 13.50 25.95 46.03 26.51 100s/50s 0/0 1/9 22/33 1/20 Top score 15 100 183* 100 Balls bowled 60 3,734 12,201 7,544 Wickets 0 69 172 150 Bowling average – 43.26 35.97 39.00 5 wickets in innings – 2 4 2 10 wickets in match – 0 1 0 Best bowling – 5/22 7/54 5/22 Catches/stumpings 5/– 33/– 109/– 56/–
Medal record Men's Cricket Representing  India ICC Champions Trophy Runner-up 2000 Kenya ACC Asia Cup Runner-up 1997 Sri Lanka
Source: ESPNcricinfo, 9 November 2014

Born in Trinidad to Indo-Trinidadian parents, Singh moved to India in 1984 and studied at Madras University during which he played club and college-level cricket. He helped Tamil Nadu win the Ranji Trophy in 1988, and was one of the season's most consistent players. Tamil Nadu won the trophy then after 33 long years and have not won it again since. He captained both Tamil Nadu and South Zone. He gave up his Trinidad and Tobago passport so he could become an Indian citizen and play for India's national cricket team.^[6]

Early life

Robindra Ramnarine Singh^[7] was born in Princes Town, Trinidad and Tobago, to Ramnarine and Savitri Singh on 14 September 1963, and is of Indian descent.^[7] His forefathers were originally from Ajmer in Rajasthan.^[7][8] At the age of 19, Singh moved to Madras, India, where he earned a master's degree in economics at the University of Madras while beginning his cricket career. He currently resides in Chennai, India, with his wife Sujata and son Dhananjay, although his parents and siblings still live in Trinidad and Tobago.^[9]

Domestic career

While in Trinidad, Singh captained the Trinidad youth cricket team in regional tournaments from 1982 to 1983. He represented the senior Trinidad cricket team in two one-day matches in 1983, during which he played alongside Phil Simmons, David Williams, Larry Gomes, Gus Logie, Rangy Nanan, Sheldon Gomes, and Richard Gabriel.

Singh started his first-class career for Tamil Nadu during the 1985–86 season. Tamil Nadu won the Ranji Trophy for the first time in 33 years with Singh performing outstandingly. During his nearly two decade long career, he was a genuine all-rounder for his club, making more than 6,000 runs and taking 172 wickets with his medium-fast bowling.

International career

Singh made his debut for the Indian national cricket team in a One Day International against the West Indies cricket team on 11 March 1989. He played two one-day Internationals, coming in to bat at number 7 both times in futile situations. The Indian team dropped Singh after the series, and he played in domestic and overseas leagues for the next seven years, after which he secured a regular place on the Indian cricket team. Singh was recalled for the Titan Cup tournament in 1996. He remained a regular player in the One Day Internationals until 2001. Singh was known for his middle-to-lower order batting, medium-pace bowling, and his ground fielding skills. He was considered as the best Indian fielder in those times. He was also known for his batting in closing overs (usually along with Ajay Jadeja), which made him an integral player during the 1999 Cricket World Cup.^[10] Throughout his career, Singh was considered a better fit for One Day matches.

Coaching career

Singh began coaching soon after his retirement. His first coaching position was with the Indian under-19 cricket team. In 2004, he began coaching the Hong Kong national cricket team,^[11] helping it qualify for the 2004 Asia Cup. In 2006, Singh was appointed coach of the India A cricket team, where he coached cricketers such as Gautam Gambhir and Robin Uthappa. Several cricketers whom Singh coached went on to play for the Indian national team.^[12] Singh was named the Indian national team fielding coach in 2007 and 2008 and was appointed the first head coach of the Deccan Chargers franchise in the Indian Premier League.^[13]

Singh remained the fielding coach for the Indian national cricket team until October 2009 and was the batting coach of the Mumbai Indians, an Indian Premier League team. He joined MI in 2010 as Head coach for 3 years, which was a turning point in the team's fortunes as before that they had failed to qualify in the top four. He helped the Mumbai Indians occupy the runner-up position during the 2010 IPL season and was a part of the coaching structure since then winning the 2013 IPL season, the 2015 IPL season 2017 and 2019 and 2020 Indian Premier League championships. He also helped win the 2013 Champions League Twenty20, and the 2011 Champions League Twenty20.

Singh coached the Khulna Division cricket team in the Bangladesh Premier League, where he helped Dwayne Smith and Andre Russell further their cricket skills. In 2012, the Uva cricket team, under Singh's coaching, won the Sri Lanka Premier League tournament.

He was also the coach of the Barbados Tridents. Since its inception, the Tridents have won once, and have played two finals and a semifinal. Robin Singh was also the Head Coach and Mentor of City Kaitak, which finished as the runners-up of the 2017 edition of Hong Kong T20 Blitz.^[14] He was also the Head Coach of Karaikudi Kaalai, in the Tamil Nadu Premier League, between 2016 and 2017. He also coached the Kerala Kings, who were crowned as the Champions of the inaugural edition of the T10 League.^[15] He moved teams in 2018 to a new franchise, Northern Warriors for the second edition of the T10 League and took that team to victory in the tournament, making it back to back titles albeit with 2 different teams.^[16] In the 2020 edition Northern Warriors won yet again and Singh was replaced due to franchise ownership changing hands .

Singh was also involved in coaching the senior and junior USA cricket teams. In 2011, Singh coached the United States women's cricket team at the World Cup Qualifier Tournament in Bangladesh. ^[17]

Robin Singh was appointed Director of Cricket – UAE Cricket and Head Coach of the UAE National Cricket Team in 2020.After 2 years of the pandemic disrupted his tenure at the start with virtually no cricket being played by his wards in a few months of active cricket uae had a series of successes to qualify for the ICC T20 World Cup in Australia. Although they didn't make it to the super 12s they had 3 hard fought games with few players putting up notable performances. He has currently been appointed the GM of MI Emirates for the inaugural edition of the UAE ILT20 league in 2023.

Initiatives

Robin Singh launched his academy, Robin Singh Sports Academy^[18] in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, which aims at providing state of the art facilities for the youngsters. The mission of his academy is to be a one-stop destination for all sports in the UAE expanding to cover the GCC and to help identify and nurture sportsmen and women to become champions and ambassadors for their country, and contribute towards a healthier community.

References

1. "Robin Singh". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
2. "Robin Singh – Coach of Tridents CPL T20 Team". Cplt20.com. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
3. . cricdash.com. Archived from the original on 9 October 2019. Retrieved 16 October 2019.
4. "Indian Fielding: Energetic, Enthusiastic and Enviable". Zeenews.india.com. 19 July 2013. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
5. . Archived from the original on 20 July 2014. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
6. "I thought that if you perform you would get in: Robin". The Times of India. 16 May 2002. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
7. "I thought that if you perform you would get in: Robin". The Times of India. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
8. "ROBIN SINGH: A FORGOTTEN HERO | Sports Overload |". 25 April 2020.
9. "Robin Singh calls it a day". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
10. "India Squad for 1999 Cricket World Cup". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
11. "Nayan Mongia to coach Thailand". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
12. "India A showing augurs well for the future – Robin". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
13. "India's coaching staff fear double standards". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
14. "Execute your skills or fail, says City Kaitak coach Robin Singh ahead of Hong Kong T20 Blitz". South China Morning Post. 5 February 2017. Retrieved 5 February 2017.
15. . The Gulf Today. Archived from the original on 4 October 2018. Retrieved 5 November 2017.
16. "My partnership with Robin will help Northern Warriors, says Sammy". Khaleej Times. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
17. "USA pick 42-year-old captain, two in 50s for WC qualifier". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
18. "Robin Singh hopes to produce top cricketers for UAE". Khaleej Times. Retrieved 13 September 2017.

External links

• Robin Singh at ESPNcricinfo