‘Field’ marshal par excellence

Robin Singh came after the Kapil Devs and Srikkanths but his strength was that he was an all-rounder on the field. In this respect, he is closer to the current icons like Ravindra Jadeja and Virat Kohli. His running between the wickets was exceptional, his throws were invariably on target, not to mention his catching. 

Probably, these are skills that you are born with to an extent and that is why when Robin Singh came for a promotional bowling clinic this week he was given the ball to officially open it. Small wonder, Robin hit the stumps with his first attempt taking three or four steps to bowl; so the organisers requested him to bowl again and the second too found the target. 

He was not a great bowler but he had a five-wicket haul in One Day Internationals. However, what made Robin a different package in Indian cricket was his batting apart from his fielding. 

True to his skills, he makes no bones about the fact that hitting the stumps is a necessary evil in cricket and one or two of them will more often than not make a difference to the outcome of a match. 

“We found this out in Australia in the recent series in which we were not on target,” says the former all-rounder. 

Yet, Robin Singh, born in Trinidad and Tobago, is a square peg in a round hole. He surrendered his passport to become an Indian citizen in 1984, he played a major part in Tamil Nadu’s Ranji Trophy success in 1988 and it is strange that he has not yet coached the state team. 

His CV as a coach shows a more than adequate ability to guide teams from across the globe: India under-19 in 2004, Hong Kong national team in 2004 in Asia Cup, India A in 2006, Indian fielding coach in 2009, US women’s team, and then Mumbai Indians in IPL. He played only one Test and did not make many runs but he took five catches. He played 136 ODIs for 2336 runs with one century and nine 50s. “Playing one World Cup was my dream and to play in 100 games for India too. I achieved both,” he says proudly. And his left-handed batting was pretty useful for India in the 1990s in the middle-order. He was a finisher like Michael Bevan for Australia and there was an interesting incident when he made 42 not out in a winning cause against South Africa chasing more than 300 in 2000 at Kochi. Robin hit what was signalled as a four to close the match even as the off-field umpire corrected it to be a two (fielded on the boundary) in the last over. In the midst of celebrations with the podium stage inside the field, Robin and the team had to come back after a good 10 minutes in fading light and score those two runs and officially end the contest. 

“Yes, that was the first time in the history of ODI cricket that a team came back to complete the win after going back (thinking that the match was over),” admits Robin. However, the match that he still remembers is the one in the 1999 World Cup in which India lost to Zimbabwe. “We needed seven runs (in five overs and three wickets left) when I got out and it still hurts me,” he recalls the match which cost India a place in the semi-finals. 

Robin would have been an ideal T20 (which did not exist in the 1990s) cricketer for India with his all-round fielding and batting skills. That is why he enjoyed his stint in IPL, though as a coach, playing his part in the successes of Mumbai Indians.