Former India cricketer Rudra Pratap Singh’s son will be playing for the England U19 cricket team, the cricketer revealed on Thursday. Harry Singh has been selected for the England U19 team’s squad that will play against the Sri Lanka U19 team in the coming days. Notably, Harry opens the batting for the Lancashire 2nd XI.
RP Singh, who hails from Lucknow and represented India in two ODIs in 1986 against Australia, moved to England in the late 1990s and took up coaching assignments with Lancashire County club and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). Singh revealed that the ECB informed them about his son’s selection in the U19 team.
“A few days ago, we got a call from the ECB that Harry has been picked for the England U-19 team which will play Sri Lanka U-19 team at home,” Singh told The Indian Express. The former India cricketer also talked about the challenges his son will have to face in order to play at the highest level.
“It’s not easy, you need a bit of luck and lots of runs to make it at the top level. I have seen many cricketers in the 90s who used to do well in domestic cricket but they failed drastically when they represented the Indian team. As Harry grows, he will have to make those technical adjustments which every cricketer does,” RP Singh said.
Singh then revealed that his son started playing cricket at the age of eight. Harry was good at football too but as he grew up, his interest in cricket also kept increasing. It was then that the family decided that its lone son will play cricket under his father’s coaching.
“He used to bowl fast but I know that fast bowling and opening the batting can take a lot of toll. So I decided to let him continue to bat and now he bowls off-spin too. It’s still a long journey but he has taken a small step in his career,” Singh said.
It’s worth mentioning that the 57-year-old’s daughter too represented the Lancashire U-19 team before choosing to pursue a career in medicine.