Everybody remembers the name KC Cariappa; expected to be India’s answer to Sunil Narine, he was bought in the 2015 IPL auction for a whopping Rs. 2.4 crores by the Kolkata Knight Riders. For the Karnataka bowler though, his first real brush with IPL stardom remained restricted to his purchase value.
That year, he played just one match against Royal Challengers Bangalore and snared AB de Villiers. That was it. The following year, his monetary value in the auction reduced by ten times, Kings XI Punjab picking him up for Rs. 80 lakhs.
Another case in point is Uttarakhand bowler Pawan Negi whose stock of Rs 8.5 crore in 2016, dramatically fell to Rs 1 crore in 2017.
An almost similar story can be told of Nathu Singh, but with an unfortunate twist. A 21-year-old pacer from Rajasthan who regularly throws at 145kmph, Nathu netted Rs. 3.2 crore from the Mumbai Indians in the 2016 auctions, but come 2017, the purchase value fell as sharp as his rise, when Gujarat Lions signed him for a much depreciated Rs. 80 lakhs.
While Cariappa and Negi’s stock might have fallen largely due to their failure to perform on the field, Nathu Singh’s story is different. In an interview with The Quint, the tearaway quick took us back to the two different phases of his life - Rags to Riches, and Riches to Rags.
Rags to Riches
For starters, Nathu is the son of a factory worker in Jaipur. Fighting adverse financial crisis, he went on to become the only Indian bowler to claim a 5 wicket haul with the pink ball in a Duleep Trophy game.
“I still remember my first cricketing income, which I earned from an U-19 match. You are aware of the financial hardships I went through. That income, though not a very fancy amount, meant the world for us, and I handed it over to my parents”, he recalled.
Life considerably changed for Nathu after he bagged the Rs 3.2 crore deal from the Mumbai Indians, but the 21 year old wasn’t blown away with the newfound luxuries of life.
“I started traveling by flight, playing at new grounds, meeting new people. Of course it all felt very good, but I will not be satisfied until I play for India. I’ve spent some time with the Indian team recently and I am very inspired by them. More than the IPL, I want to play for my country.”
The pacer was also reminiscent of how lack of money abstained him from availing coaching in his initial career.
“I mostly used to train alone by myself. I still remember, the first time ever I asked my dad for money was to play cricket, to invest in a bat and ball. And I want to repay that money to my dad. I also took up odd jobs to buy cricket kits,” he added, choking on his words.
For a pictorial representation of his struggles, we asked Nathu to share with us any picture that we could print along with the article. And what came from the other end was a very beautiful answer.
“Mere paas photo shayad nahi hai. But I have all the images in my heart. Of poverty, of my struggling parents, of where I came from. Whenever I feel depressed, or even when I go out to play, I recall those images, and no matter where I go in life, those images will forever remain imprinted in me.”
Riches to Rags
Only 3 months after Nathu’s dream IPL signing, he injured his shoulder. His dreams were shattered. And that, perhaps, also brought a decline in his purchase value at the 2017 Auction.
“I did not get a chance to showcase my performance because of the injury. If you do well, all the franchises will bid for you. Recently my Rajasthan teammate Aniket Choudhary did well in the domestic circuit, so RCB signed him for 2 crores” he explained.
“I am really looking forward to playing the IPL this year. Last year, the injury kept me away from my dream. Maybe the time was just not right for me,” he hinted regret.
Nathu impressed in the Duleep Trophy in 2016, picking up eight wicket including a six-wicket haul. The way he jostled the batsmen for pace and swung the ball brought much praise from selectors and veterans. In his second season of the Ranji Trophy 2016-17, his performance was decent, if not phenomenal.
“Even though my domestic performances were decent, I knew that the deal at the auctions would not be as good as last year. I was expecting to be signed for anything between Rs. 40 lakhs to Rs. 80 lakhs, and that is what happened. My expectations were met so I was satisfied.”
It was challenging for Nathu to overcome the mental trauma of not debuting after Mumbai Indians made such a huge investment in him. But the franchise took care of him, healed him.
“Rahul Sanghvi, and the others from the MI staff supported me a lot. I strongly believe that if not for their support, I would have never been able to overcome the mental trauma of the injury. Bahot badi problem ho gayi thi, I could not even move my shoulder. They arranged frequent check-ups, skill-checks, rehabilitation process and a lot more.”
Prodded to speak about his ultimate goal of representing the country, he said, “India ke liye khelna sirf ek sapna nai hai, ek junoon hai. I want to become an international bowler the world will remember”
Nathu is talented, grateful and grounded. He is very enthusiastic about representing India. And perhaps, it may just take an injury or loss of form in the Indian pace bowling department for Nathu’s dream call. You never know.
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