Factory worker's son Nathu Singh on a quest to become world's fastest bowler

Nathu Singh is the newest seamer from India who hits 140kph consistently

Indian cricket has been on a quest for the past few years. Their quest is the search for a quality fast bowler – which has proved to be more obscure than Aladdin’s magic lamp. A land known for its explosive batsman, stories of a tall, lumbering lad who bowls at 140km/h is quite rare.

Perhaps it is unsurprising that when India manages to find a young seamer, he seems to come from the rugged, sandy terrains of Rajasthan, a place as tough as his choice of cricketing expertise. The boy in question here is Nathu Singh, India’s newest find in the Ranji Trophy.

The 20-year old has impressed veterans like Rahul Dravid and Gautam Gambhir with his lethal pace. Singh has debuted for Rajasthan in the ongoing Ranji and has already caught the eye of the cricket-crazy nation. Having just played in his maiden first-class season with only four matches under his belt, the youngster was selected to play against the touring South Africans for the Board President's XI, hand-picked especially by chief selector Sandeep Patil.

It is clear enough that he is a special kind of talent. To get the chance to have a go at the world’s current best international players, after having played only four domestic matches is no mean feat.

Want to break Shoaib Akhtar’s record: Nathu Singh

It almost sounds like a fairy-tale that a young talent catches the eye of the selector as soon as he makes it to his state team. He gets to play against the best, something that players with years of experience in the Ranji could not do. However, there is nothing remotely rosy about Nathu’s cricket career.

Since his childhood, Nathu had only one dream – to run in with a cricket ball and bowl really fast. Put simply, he wanted to be like the Pakistani great, Shoaib Akhtar.

“I loved watching Shoaib Akhtar bowl. He was so quick. I watched him and decided that I want to bowl so fast that I break his record. And for that I have to work really hard, for which I am absolutely prepared,” the young boy told BCCI.tv.

“My life has changed a lot. I used to watch a lot of cricket on the television as a kid. And every time I watched a fast bowler run in, I would say to myself, ‘I want to bowl like this one day’," Nathu added.

When his father gave it all to coach Nathu

Certain dreams are meant to come true it seems, but he has had no way of knowing that – before the sudden call-up to Board President XI.

Hailing from extremely modest backgrounds, he realized that his father didn’t have the luxury to provide him with the professional coaching required to be a cricketer. So he quietly kept his dream to himself.

Until three years ago he used to bowl with a tennis ball in the neighbourhood. Then his mates told him he should try a cricket ball because he was too fast for everybody. It was these friends that decided to convince his father to send Nathu to a cricket academy.

Bharat Singh, his father who worked as a labourer in a wire factory in Jaipur, hardly managed to make ends meet. In spite of that, he decided to gamble. His parents poured their entire savings for the boy’s career. He went to Surana Academy, where the fee was Rs 10,000 for the year. The father had no savings to spare, but he told Nathu: "Whatever I have I will put in. Let's see for two months how you go."

Two months later the coaches at the academy suggested he be given time because they saw that "spark". The academy subsidised the fee looking at his family background, and by the end of that year he was in the Rajasthan Under-19 side. The MRF Pace Academy happened to him as well where he impressed Glenn McGrath. McGrath was mighty pleased with the bowling prodigy and believed that he could be India’s future bowler.

Two years ago, when Nathu drew his first match fee, he gave it all to his parents. He still does. He has a tattoo on the inner side of him arm which says "Mom Dad.” It is his small way of thanking his parents who gave their all for him.

Veterans praise the speedster

Patil believed the boy had ‘the X-Factor’ that selectors always search for, which is why he chose to play him at the big stage. The spark in Nathu was also noticed by none other than Rahul Dravid. Rajasthan Cricket Association’s BCCI-appointed convener Amrit Mathur, received a call from Rahul Dravid. The gist of the conversation was: “this boy is good, please keep an eye out for him,” reported ESPNcricinfo.

That was not all. After the end of his first Ranji match against Delhi, their coach Vijay Dahiya called Mathur. He had been told about "this boy" by Gautam Gambhir. The conversation went: "We were talking, Gautam mentioned this boy and said that after a long time he has seen new India material, please make sure he is not ruined by over-bowling.”

Nathu Singh has also been a victim of bias in cricket. The system at the grassroots levels in India is still marred by corruption and favouritism, which is why he couldn't find a place in the Jaipur district side. He decided to go and play for Sikkar, hardly known for its cricket, but this came as a blessing in disguise. From here, there was no looking back. The rest of the machinery, though, has been remarkable in fast-tracking him into playing against a quality opposition.

Singh was chosen by chief selector Sandeep Patil to play for Board President’s XI against South Africa

His prolific Ranji Trophy stint

Nathu made the headlines this season in Ranji Trophy when he took 7/87 on first-class debut for Rajasthan against Delhi. One of his wickets was Gautam Gambhir. As of now, he has picked up 12 wickets for Rajasthan in the four matches that he has played. In the two-day game against the Proteas, he bowled at international batsmen for the first time. He had only one wicket (Dean Elgar) to show but he made his mark with pace.

When asked to describe his bowling, Nathu said: “Everything about my bowling is natural. “I still bowl the same way I used to when I started playing cricket. The only thing I have learned is to adjust my length according to the pitch and the match situation.”

“I have a natural in-swinger and I get away swing with the same action and angle. I am not working on any aspect regarding swinging the ball. I am only focusing on getting my lengths right. I have a few variations as well, like the back-of-hand slower one and bouncer, and the cutters. I have learnt all these on my own, bowling with the tennis ball,” he added.

Nathu has a breezy bowling stride. He usually walks four steps, then skips, not as extravagantly as Junaid Khan though. The leap is high, the action is easy and smooth, and then he puts a big effort into the ball. There is pace.

He calls himself an inswing bowler – and it will need closer analysis to see if he looks over his front arm just before letting the ball go. This puts stress on the back, but also puts action on the ball, something that Bhuvneshwar Kumar did with ease, before his recent slump in form.

Like an average 20-year old, Nathu is happy with the media glare but he is scared too.

“It makes me feel really happy (that everyone is backing me to make it big) but at the same time it also scares me,” Nathu said. “So many people have such high hopes from me and what if I fail to live up to it?”

“But the moment I feel I am thinking about these things too much, I stop myself and bring my focus back to the present. I tell myself to concentrate on the cricket that I am playing right now and give it my all to do well in the next match. Rest of the things will take care of itself," he mused.

That is the exact kind of thinking that will take him a long way. He will be the cynosure of all eyes as the Ranji Trophy progresses. We would hope that he cuts in to the team, instead of falling prey to injuries or just getting lost in the system. We also hope that in the process, he doesn’t turn from being ‘express seam’ to ‘medium fast.’