Former pacer Harvinder Singh was chosen from central zone and replaced Gagan Khoda in the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s selection panel on Wednesday.
Singh entered the Indian cricketing scene at a time when Sachin Tendulkar was ruling the roost, winning or taking India on the brink of victories all by himself. This was during the 1997-’98 season. Singh was a part of India’s Border-Gavaskar series win on home soil, and a month later, a member of the ‘Desert Storm’ series in Sharjah.
Singh came with a reputation of being one of the most promising fast bowlers to emerge from the Indian stables in the mid-1990s. He had a good start to his One-Day International career but was deemed too expensive and failed to make the cut to the 1999 World Cup squad.
Here are a few things to know about the new BCCI selector:
- Harvinder Singh shined for the SAARC tour in Bangladesh in 1997. He took six wickets for Pakistan A and four against Bangladesh, which catapulted him into the national team.
- Singh made his Test debut in Chennai against Australia in 1998, a match better known for Sachin Tendulkar carting Shane Warne and Co to all parts as India cruised to a big win. His first Test wicket was former captain Mark Taylor.
- A well-built pace bowler, Singh played three Test and 16 ODIs. While he had meagre returns in red-ball cricket, the Amritsar-born impressed in ODIs, where he finished with 24 wickets. His best match haul of 3/47 came against Pakistan in Dhaka. His less-than-impressive economy of 5.32 came back to haunt him.
- Despite being one of the more sought-after pacers in the Ranji Trophy circuit, Singh just had a four-year stint with the Indian team, where he drifted in and out of the team.