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Robin Singh - The forgotten all-rounder

gazza619

gazza619

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Growing up in 90’s and watching Pakistan dominate India in pretty much all formats and all over the world (except world cups), I often wondered why and how did Robin Singh ever made it to the Indian team. He batted at number 6, and when he came in to bat you almost knew the game was over. His friendly medium pacers didnt scare anyone either. The indian team of that era still had some giagantic stars but it amazed me how Robin Singh survived for so long in the team. Was he special? I never really saw him pulling any amazing performances to be honest. I guess our guru’s of Pakpassion can shed some light on this curious case of Robin Singh.
 
He was a nice guy who tried his best I suppose but he was one of the reasons our ODI team became so mediocre in the 1997-2001 era. Rarely scored runs and his 70 mph trundling was a pain to watch.
 
Nikhil_cric said:
He was a nice guy who tried his best I suppose but he was one of the reasons our ODI team became so mediocre in the 1997-2001 era. Rarely scored runs and his 70 mph trundling was a pain to watch.
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If i remember correctly, fielding was his strongest point
 
He was above the age of 35 back then and yet was the best fielder of the team. He and Jadeja were damage recovery specialist. Robin Singh would hardly win you matches, but he would take your team to a respectable score so that the margin of defeat wasn't humiliating. Was pretty much good enough to be in the Indian ODI team from 1997 till about 2000. Saw him twice in my home city during matches, in 97' and 99'.

Another point, he had the ugliest looking batting stance I've ever seen by a long, long, long way.
 
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Robin Singh was the microcosm of Indian team in the 90s. Softy who does not hurt you unless you are asleep
 
India needed an all rounder and he was the best they could get. An honest trier who unfortunately was equally mediocre with both bat and ball. Post Dev, India has struggled in this area. One day we will look back and wonder what Pandya was doing in the side.
 
BreadPakoda said:
India needed an all rounder and he was the best they could get. An honest trier who unfortunately was equally mediocre with both bat and ball. Post Dev, India has struggled in this area. One day we will look back and wonder what Pandya was doing in the side.
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Pandya can hit boundaries all around and bowls around 20 ks quicker on average. Maybe overrated but atleast needs to get the credit he deserves
 
Personified mediocrity in Indian team. The funny thing is that he was an import from Trinidad!!

I think it was Bishin Bedi who encouraged him to come and try out for India.
 
What Robin Singh did, few players did for India. He was rock solid. You could wake him up at 1am and ask him to face Wasim, Shoaib, Donald, Mcgrath, Walsh and he wouldnt even flinch. He gave his 110% for the country, always. I would rather have someone like Robin than a Pandya in my team.

Robin Singh used to decimate bowlers like Warne and Saqlain every time. He used to give the respectability to Indian score which others werent able to manage.
If you think Robin Singh was mediocre, think again!
 
Rightarmfast said:
What Robin Singh did, few players did for India. He was rock solid. You could wake him up at 1am and ask him to face Wasim, Shoaib, Donald, Mcgrath, Walsh and he wouldnt even flinch. He gave his 110% for the country, always. I would rather have someone like Robin than a Pandya in my team.

Robin Singh used to decimate bowlers like Warne and Saqlain every time. He used to give the respectability to Indian score which others werent able to manage.
If you think Robin Singh was mediocre, think again!
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What! He hit 2 sixes in 1 over of Warne in the 99' WC match during his innings of 75. That's it.
 
Rightarmfast said:
What Robin Singh did, few players did for India. He was rock solid. You could wake him up at 1am and ask him to face Wasim, Shoaib, Donald, Mcgrath, Walsh and he wouldnt even flinch. He gave his 110% for the country, always. I would rather have someone like Robin than a Pandya in my team.

Robin Singh used to decimate bowlers like Warne and Saqlain every time. He used to give the respectability to Indian score which others werent able to manage.
If you think Robin Singh was mediocre, think again!
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Come on man. Pandya is miles better already and will improve further.

Ok ask yourself ... how many games you can remember where he won any game? Or he was the outstanding performer. I can't think of any, whereas for prabakar an equivalent player, I can visibly remember Prabakar causing damage with his viscous inswing and some hitting up or down the order ...

The best aspect I remember of Robin Singh was his fielding ... probably got someone important runnout.
 
Nikhil_cric said:
Pandya can hit boundaries all around and bowls around 20 ks quicker on average. Maybe overrated but atleast needs to get the credit he deserves
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Our cricket is better too as compared to the 90s. Robin Singh was a below average player in an average side. Pandya is an average player in a good side.
 
Robin Singh was a Trinidadian who started playing cricket in the West Indies before he moved to India. He spent a lot of time trying to get into the Indian system, and thus could not go very far. Maybe his international career would have been a lot more successful if he had stayed in the West Indies .

I wouldn't call him an all-rounder at all. He was just a half-decent bowler who could bat a bit. It is laughable how some Indian fans refer to the likes of Robin Singh, Irfan Pathan and Harbhajan Singh as all rounders. He was a great fielder though. One of the best fielders in India back then.
 
Robin Singh won many matches for India by his all round performances.
Look it up guys. He deserves a lot more respect than posters on this topic are showing.
 
Rightarmfast said:
What Robin Singh did, few players did for India. He was rock solid. You could wake him up at 1am and ask him to face Wasim, Shoaib, Donald, Mcgrath, Walsh and he wouldnt even flinch. He gave his 110% for the country, always. I would rather have someone like Robin than a Pandya in my team.

Robin Singh used to decimate bowlers like Warne and Saqlain every time. He used to give the respectability to Indian score which others werent able to manage.
If you think Robin Singh was mediocre, think again!
Click to expand...


Haha chill man he was mediocre no doubt however the Indian team was entirely mediocre back then were good in tests in home conditions due to conditions but in ODI we wee pretty mediocre and only Sachin was a breath of fresh air..

Others like Jadeja, robin Singh, Prabhakar, Sidhu, Mongia etc were all mediocre however they did have some good matches in between..

Azhar And Kambli were cases of what could have been but they both severely underachieved for various reasons..

Bowling wise we were mediocre as well with Srinath being just slightly above mediocre.. Kumble was decent but rest sucked..

Robin Singh defined or cricket back then was a good fielder but others were absolutely atrocious so people think he was some super man which he wasn’t.. Just good for Indian standards back then.
 
Robin Singh used to score in lost causes, he would score a 50 to take the team to 180 which india would not defend anyway and he mastered this art. He should never have played as much as he did. He was mediocrity personified.
 
He was a decent batsman who could use slog sweep to good effect. Can score briskly when needed. His bowling was mediocre. But his fielding was great.

Overall, a very average player. Tells us the story of Indian cricket back in 90's.
 
India was looking for a all rounder. Indian bowlers were not that good with bat. Also , his fielding was very good. Thus India persisted with him as a floater.
 
Robin Singh is the player Hardik Pandya should look up to.

Had Robin played in the IPL he would have become the best since Imran Khan just like Hardik Pandya.
 
Anyone here remember his excellent performance against Pakistan under pressure while chasing over 300 that too in a final
 
Robin Singh was a mediocre player that wouldn't even be in contention for India A sides today. I think that's a reflection of how good India are right now, and how poor they were back then. A honest limited trier in a honest limited team.
 
Hitman said:
India won that final chasing 300+ in 48 overs. Ganguly scored 121 or so. 3rd final of Independence Cup, 1998.
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Ganguly was a beast in that period. Was as much a danger as Tendulkar in 1999-2000 if I remember right. Really underrated ODI player.

EDIT: Underrated in the sense, he's never in the conversation for any all-time ODI XI's though he should be.
 
Highlight of his career was the 1 down knock he played against Pak in the final at Dhaka ,which helped us chase the highest total at that time.
 
I remember he scored a century (only one century in his career) but that match was abandoned unfortunately.. Anyway I do like him, was a great fielder; jadeja, Ashar too..
 
Rishta Aunty said:
Ganguly was a beast in that period. Was as much a danger as Tendulkar in 1999-2000 if I remember right. Really underrated ODI player.

EDIT: Underrated in the sense, he's never in the conversation for any all-time ODI XI's though he should be.
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Not during that period, he became a beast from 99' till around 01' in the ODI format.
 
big_gamer007 said:
Haha chill man he was mediocre no doubt however the Indian team was entirely mediocre back then were good in tests in home conditions due to conditions but in ODI we wee pretty mediocre and only Sachin was a breath of fresh air..

Others like Jadeja, robin Singh, Prabhakar, Sidhu, Mongia etc were all mediocre however they did have some good matches in between..

Azhar And Kambli were cases of what could have been but they both severely underachieved for various reasons..

Bowling wise we were mediocre as well with Srinath being just slightly above mediocre.. Kumble was decent but rest sucked..

Robin Singh defined or cricket back then was a good fielder but others were absolutely atrocious so people think he was some super man which he wasn’t.. Just good for Indian standards back then.
Click to expand...

Azhar might have underplayed a few games...but he was not what could have been. He has quite a few legendary innings people forgot....And retired as the highest run scorer in ODI's and played 99 Test Matches with a good average for 90's Era.

If he had retired without the fixing scandal...could have been an indian legend.
 
He actually had a lot of utility in that Indian team. Was blessed in all facets of the game. :Hafeez
 
gazza619 said:
Growing up in 90’s and watching Pakistan dominate India in pretty much all formats and all over the world (except world cups), I often wondered why and how did Robin Singh ever made it to the Indian team. He batted at number 6, and when he came in to bat you almost knew the game was over. His friendly medium pacers didnt scare anyone either. The indian team of that era still had some giagantic stars but it amazed me how Robin Singh survived for so long in the team. Was he special? I never really saw him pulling any amazing performances to be honest. I guess our guru’s of Pakpassion can shed some light on this curious case of Robin Singh.
Click to expand...

Robin Singh was one of my favourite cricketers, and when I close my eyes and think of the 1990s cricket and especially Bharatiya cricket, he is one of the boys that I think of. It is true that he was a mediocre talent at best but he was Mr 101% when it came to effort and that’s why he was loved and respected by Bharatiya fans.

He was a brilliant fielder and inspired his teammates in the field every time he dived to stop boundaries and take stunning catches. When he batted, he ran as if his life was at stake.

Character and effort is most important. Once that is there money can help evolve the system to greater heights that it eventually did in Bharatiya cricket but if we never had men of character like Robin bhai, that money would have wasted.
 
Bhaijaan said:
Robin Singh was one of my favourite cricketers, and when I close my eyes and think of the 1990s cricket and especially Bharatiya cricket, he is one of the boys that I think of. It is true that he was a mediocre talent at best but he was Mr 101% when it came to effort and that’s why he was loved and respected by Bharatiya fans.

He was a brilliant fielder and inspired his teammates in the field every time he dived to stop boundaries and take stunning catches. When he batted, he ran as if his life was at stake.

Character and effort is most important. Once that is there money can help evolve the system to greater heights that it eventually did in Bharatiya cricket but if we never had men of character like Robin bhai, that money would have wasted.
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Real blast from the past this. A lot of my fanatic cricket watching was in those days. Cricket coaching and talent finding hadn't really gone to the smaller towns of India at the time - it was the traditional centers who provided most of the talent. Mumbai gave you great batters but allrounders and bowlers we had to go find from somewhere which is why we ended up with guys like Robin - honest triers who made up in effort and commitment what they lacked in talent. We tried so many at the time - Robin and Jadeja stuck for a bit. It wasn't until Yuvraj, Raina and Sehwag established themselves that we finally found that fifth, sixth and seventh bowling options.
 
Bhaijaan said:
Robin Singh was one of my favourite cricketers, and when I close my eyes and think of the 1990s cricket and especially Bharatiya cricket, he is one of the boys that I think of. It is true that he was a mediocre talent at best but he was Mr 101% when it came to effort and that’s why he was loved and respected by Bharatiya fans.

He was a brilliant fielder and inspired his teammates in the field every time he dived to stop boundaries and take stunning catches. When he batted, he ran as if his life was at stake.

Character and effort is most important. Once that is there money can help evolve the system to greater heights that it eventually did in Bharatiya cricket but if we never had men of character like Robin bhai, that money would have wasted.
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Summed up my views neatly!

Robin Singh along with Ajay Jadeja remain two of my favorite 1990s Indian cricketers. Robin Singh was the opposite of the modern day enforcer, he was a genuine damage controller. Long before Lance Klusner made the enforcer a hot commodity in white ball cricket.
 
Would like to make another point, like so many posters have already mentioned, he was the best fielder in the side during his years in the team. Yes, even better than Ajay Jadeja.
 
He was neither a batsman nor a bowler. He was blessed with enough talent in all departments to make India lose most of the times.

It was funny to watch Robin Singh bat with Indian tail of Mongia, Kumble, Srinath, Prasad and Raju. You know the match was over when Tendulkar got out and India are 160/5 chasing 230. But Robin Singh used to come and hit a couple of boundaries bringing in a smile on Indian fans faces and raising the hopes of a win. In the process he used to take the score to 180 all out. He was an honest trier. Sometimes he used to get lucky and won a couple of matches on his own.

Winning from difficult situations without Sachin batting till the end was unheard of for us Indian fans. When someone that is not Sachin did it, he used to become an instant star in the hearts of poor Indian fans. Robin Singh had a few matches where his heroics won the matches for India. That enabled him to play for several years for India.
 
Some additional perspective.

How Robin Singh was viewed initially was greatly enhanced by the fact that he was of West Indian origin. We Indians (including the selectors, IMO) hoped that maybe some of that Caribbean magic would rub off on him and the Indian team. Hard to believe it now, but it created a lot of buzz.

He was a competent performer, no more. Mediocre bowler, slightly below average bat (ODIs only). But his outstanding fielding stood out in a team full of lethargic ball stoppers. He was a ‘kind of all rounder’ that India was desperate ro find. He looked the part with his physique and his humble behaviour (do not discount this) got him a decent run in the national side.

He did have a few good innings and served the team well within his limits.
 
He was the phasst bowling allrounder which India craved, shame he retired pre IPL era otherwise he would be a multimillionaire
 
Say whatever, but if you would pick up any random close ODI match of Bharat from the 1990s chances are Robin bhai is either fighting a lone battle with the bat or breaking some crucial partnership with the ball or doing some super run out in tk e field or taking a stunner catch. Robin bhai is everywhere in 1990s ODI highlights for Bharatiya cricket and that speaks everything about him. The guy was a fighter. It’s scary how dangerous he could have been if he had more natural talent if he even managed all this with his limited abilities.

No wonder he went on to have a successful coaching career. The guy is a binaries mentorship material.
 
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