Over the years, India have had limited representation from various communities. For instance, Roger Binny was the first Anglo-Indian to play for India when he was part of the World-Cup winning side in 1983. Apart from him, instances of such representation have been rare in the past few years. However, one such name pops out who represented India internationally. The other name that comes to mind is none other than Robin Singh.
Robin Singh nowadays is a very prominent name in the coaching circuit, having been instrumental in turning the fortunes of the Mumbai Indians when he took over as head coach in 2010. After two seasons of relative mediocrity, he made sure they were regulars in the playoffs, and was also responsible for orchestrating their two Champions League titles in 2011 and 2013. As a part of the India team for close to a decade, he played 136 One-Day internationals, and just a one test.
In his playing days, he had the reputation of being one of the best fielders in the side at that time. In fact, he was the one who maintained standards on the field, and was always known to have a calm head on his shoulders, which helped him perform well under pressure.
However, the one fact that not a lot of people don’t know is that Robin Singh was not born in India, and was neither an Indian citizen initially. In fact, he was born in the Caribbean island of Trinidad and Tobago. He was born to parents of Indian descent, and his grandfather was from Ajmer in India.
He came to India as a young teen for educational purposes. He was 19 when he enrolled in the university of Madras, to study his Master’s degree in Economics. It was at this time that the cricket bug bit him, and he started playing for local sides.
His agility and his ability caught the attention of the Tamil Nadu ranji side, and he was called up to represent them in the 1985-86 season. He was so eager to play that he gave up his Trinidadian passport to attain Indian citizenship since that was the only way he could play in and for India. And success soon followed.
Robin Singh was instrumental in Tamil Nadu winning the Coveted trophy in 1988. They had last win that trophy 33 years ago, and have never won it since.
After that Robin Singh was drafted into the Indian side, and he always delivered whenever he was called on to. Currently he resides in Chennai, while his parents and siblings still reside in Trinidad. Robin Singh is an example of the representation of the Indian side from different countries as well. And he had a great career, and is now reaping the benefits of that career.
Watch one of his most destructive knocks, here:
