Left-arm spinner Swapnil Singh was picked in the very first IPL auction and was part of the Mumbai Indians setup, no less. Still, it took the UP-born ex-Baroda player 16 years to make his mark in the league and at the age of 33-year-old, as part of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Swapnil has become a vital contributor in his team’s incredible comeback that saw the team win six matches in a row to make the IPL 2024 playoffs. From asking coach Andy Flower for a chance to be picked for RCB, terming it as it might be his last chance, Swapnil is living his dream, something he thought just a year ago was all gone.
Swapnil recalled his journey in cricket, from his debut for Baroda as a 14-year-old, being Virat Kohli’s room partner, to being shunted out of his stateside before finding his feet as a net bowler with LSG and eventually pushing his way to RCB’s playing XI.
The 33-year-old broke down when talking about the IPL 2024 auction, during which he was picked by RCB during the accelerated round. In a video posted by RCB’s social handles, Swapnil narrated the day of the auction and talked about his emotions and those of his family upon being picked by RCB.
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“The day of the auction, I was travelling to Dehradun for a Ranji game, and we landed somewhere around 7-8 PM. The last round of IPL auction was going on, and nothing had happened till that time. I frankly thought to myself, it’s done. Thank you. I will play the ongoing season (Ranji), and if needed the next one and call it quits because I do not want to play all my life, ‘Duniya jeetene ke liya aur bhi cheeze hain’, (there are a lot of other things I can do to be successful). I was very disappointed. But when the moment my family called, we broke down. Not many know how much of an emotional journey it was… That was it,” said Swapnil.
WATCH THE VIDEO HERE:
is special for a number of reasons! Keep those tissues handy. If you’re not his fan already, you’ll end up becoming one.❤Watch Swapnil’s emotional and inspiring journey on @bigbasket_com presents RCB Bold Diaries!#PlayBold pic.twitter.com/8wlNNjsfxo
— Royal Challengers Bengaluru (@RCBTweets) May 20, 2024
Who is Swapnil Singh?
The 33-year-old debuted in the IPL when playing for Kings XI Punjab (now renamed Punjab Kings) in the 2016 edition and had taken MS Dhoni was his maiden IPL wicket. Since then, he also moved to Lucknow Super Giants when he was picked at the 2023 auctions.
He made his debut for Baroda at just 14 years old. As the years went by, he was also the highest-run scorer for the side in the 2017-18 season, with 565 runs in six games, averaging 62.77. In the 2014-15 season of the Syed Mushtaq Ali, Swapnil rocked the Saurashtra batting unit by finishing with figures of 6/19 in his four overs. Among the wickets included Sheldon Jackson and Indian international Cheteshwar Pujara. He then switched to playing for Uttarakhand in the 2021-22 domestic season.
Swapnil was stuck on the bench for LSG whef Ravi Bishnoi and others took up the spinner’s slot in the starting XI and was subsequently released by the franchise. R,CB however, showed faith in the 33-year-old and now has repaiit d in dividends.