“When we were losing…”: RCB Star talks about emotional journey

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) all-rounder Swapnil Singh, who came into the Indian Premier League (IPL) in the second half and made an immediate impact, has opened up on his “emotional” cricket journey which has seen him experience several ups and downs and his relationship with star batsman Virat Kohli.
RCB have completed a remarkable turnaround from a horrible first half of IPL 2024 that saw them win just one in eight games to securing six consecutive games to reach the playoffs. In these six matches, Swapnil played a crucial role with his small batting cameos, wicket-taking skills and low economy rate. He scored 28 runs in four innings at a strike rate of 164.70 and also took six wickets at an average of 19.00 and an economy rate of 8.76, with best figures of 2/28.

Introducing himself to the audience, Swapnil said that although he was born in Lucknow, he played for Baroda (2005-2020) and is currently playing for Uttarakhand (season 2021-22 onwards).

In 76 first-class matches, he scored 2,727 runs at an average of 26.22, with two centuries and 16 fifties and took 181 wickets. In 63 List A games, Swapnil made 1,153 runs at an average of 25.06, with six fifties and took 67 wickets. In 81 T20s, he made 877 runs with two fifties and took 69 wickets.

“My father was my first coach. I am playing cricket because of him. It was his passion to make me play that made all this possible. I was in sixth class when I moved to Baroda to play cricket. He wanted me to become a batsman. When I came to Baroda, I started bowling, I made my Ranji debut at the age of 14 years and 355 days,” he recalled.

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Watch Swapnil’s moving and inspiring journey on @bigbasket_com presents RCB Bold Diaries!#PlayBold pic.twitter.com/8wlNNjsfxo

– Royal Challengers Bengaluru (@RCBTweets) May 20, 2024

Recalling his bond with Virat, Swapnil said he played under-15 and under-19 cricket with Virat and was his roommate during trips to Sri Lanka and Malaysia.

“When I met him after so many years, it was very warm. We were getting to know each other after so many years, we asked each other about our lives and families. It was really good,” he added.

Swapnil remembers being picked by Mumbai Indians (MI) in 2008 IPL, the first season, and making his league debut for Punjab Kings much later in 2017, playing four matches.

“I was picked in 2008 for Mumbai Indians. Sachin (Tendulkar) is like a god to all of us. When I met him and interacted with him for the first time, it was good. My IPL debut came against CSK while playing for PBKS. Maxi (Glenn Maxwell) was my captain, I took just one wicket, from MS Dhoni, I took it and bowled,” said Swapnil.

Swapnil later recalled one of his biggest setbacks in his career, being dropped from the Baroda squad in 2020 despite his consistent performance as an all-rounder. The 33-year-old said this was a blessing in disguise for him as he learned how to stand. Former cricketer Irfan Pathan helped him find another state, Uttarakhand, to continue his career.

“In 2016-17, I played in the Duleep Trophy for Baroda, scoring the best run for them and took a lot of wickets. In 2019, I was among India’s top three all-rounders in white-ball cricket. Then came COVID-19. After that, the Baroda selections were held. I thought I was a solid player, but the captain told me that my place was not available in the team, so I was looking for a new state to play for. It helped. It was a blessing in disguise because when you are thrown out of the house, you learn to stand on your feet. Now I realize that Baroda has done me good, otherwise I would have been finished,” said Swapnil.

Swapnil said that Baroda all-rounder Deepak Hooda is like a brother to him and it was he who contacted Swapnil and helped him return to the IPL as a net bowler for Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) last year.

The all-rounder said that although coach Andy Flower and spin coach Narendra Hirwani were impressed with his bowling, he asked Andy for an opportunity to bat too, which he got. His hits also impressed the coaching staff. He also played two matches for LSG.

He further said that when Andy moved to RCB as coach, he appealed to the Zimbabwean to give him one more opportunity and that he participated in a camp organized to select new players. He further recalled that during the auctions he almost gave up on himself until his family informed him that he was picked by RCB.

“Deepak Hooda is like a brother to me. When he called me to become a net bowler for LSG, I cut off the phone and abused him (laughs). He called me again to think about it. Irfan told me to go. I was like I played in the IPL myself. The concept of net bowler started at that moment. Coach Andy Flower was impressed with me. I was playing from the first ball to the last. He turned me 180 degrees as a player. on why he didn’t test me in batting. He also made me bat. impressed with batting too, Andy has a big role to play in all this,” said Swapnil.

“When RCB got me, they had held a trial camp. I asked Andy to give me one more chance, which could also have been the last. was happening, I was traveling to Dehradun for the Ranji Trophy. When I arrived, it must have been 7 or 8 pm, the last rounds of the auction must have been going on. I wanted to play this continuous season and one more season if possible, as I didn’t want to do that my whole life. I was very disappointed, I thought there were other things to achieve. But then my family called me and we just broke down. No one knows how emotional this journey has been for me,” he added.

Swapnil said when he came here he knew he would only get a chance to play later. So, to prove his worth, he treated every net session he attended as a proper match before getting the chance to play.

“When we were losing, I thought the fans were going to abuse us. But the fans weren’t falling. It was shocking for me. I felt really good because the fans are really loyal to us. I used to talk to my brother who wanted to beat just a four and a six in the IPL, since I have a wicket, I had to do that too. In my seventh ball of my first over (in which he bowled a no ball), I got a wicket,” he concluded.