RP Singh Profile - INDIA

Full name Rudra Pratap Singh
Born December 6, 1985, Rae Bareli, Uttar Pradesh
Current age 23 years 173 days
Major teams India, Deccan Chargers, India A, India Under-19s, Leicestershire,Rajasthan Cricket Association President's XI, Uttar Pradesh
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Left-arm fast-medium


Rudra Pratap Singh (born 6 December, 1985 in Raebareli, Uttar Pradesh, India) is a left arm fast-medium bowler who has represented India in one day cricket and Test cricket.

R.P. Singh first came into contention during the under-19 World Cup in Bangladesh in 2004, when he took eight wickets for a very impressive average of 24.75. He later performed consistently in the Ranji Trophy for Uttar Pradesh and impressive performances saw him earn a place in the ODI side in 2005.

In his third one-day match, Singh got his first man of the match award as he played his part as India restricted Sri Lanka to a modest 196 all out. Swinging the ball on a batting wicket, he took 4 important wickets to rattle Sri Lanka. His bowling figures of 8.5 overs, 2 maidens, 35 runs and 4 wickets announced his arrival on the international stage.

Singh was selected to make his Test debut in the 2nd Test against Pakistan in Faisalabad, Pakistan in January 2006. He won the man of the match award on his debut after taking 5 wickets in the match.

Singh's 4 wicket-haul in the fourth match of the one-day series against Pakistan in 2006, helped India take an unassailable 3-1 lead in the series, and won him the man of the match award. India went on to win the series 4-1. In his first 11 ODI matches, he was awarded the man of the match award 3 times.

Singh was favoured to Sreesanth for the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy due to his superior economy rate. However, he was unable to maintain his level of performance, and was dropped from the side.

In 2007 it was announced that Singh would be signing for English side Leicestershire as their second overseas signing. He was however unexpectedly recalled to the Indian side following their poor World Cup campaign and only made a handful of appearances.

Singh was included in the Test squad for the tour to England and performed well, taking 5/59 at Lord's his first five-wicket-haul in Tests. In the one-day series he took seven wickets at 31.71 from five matches.

Singh was selected to play in the 2007 ICC World Twenty20 tournament in South Africa in September 2007. Singh emerged as the second-highest wicket-taker in the entire competition, taking 12 wickets in 7 matches at an average of 12.66 runs per wicket. India won the 12-nation tournament after beating Pakistan in the final. R.P. Singh's best figures were 4/13 in 4 overs in India's final Super-8 stage match in which they eliminated South Africa from the tournament.

Singh was then selected for India's one-day home series against Australia and Pakistan that followed, playing four games in each series and picking up a total of 11 wickets.

He plays for the Deccan Chargers in the Indian Premier League. The second season of the tournament was highly successful for Singh as he emerged as the highest wicket taker of the tournament, with 23 from 16 matches thereby winning the Purple Cap. Deccan Chargers emerged as winners of the tournament.

Profile:

Rudra Pratap Singh first made the headlines in the Under-19 World Cup in Bangladesh in 2004, taking eight wickets at 24.75 apiece and bowling well in the slog overs at the end of the innings. Later that year he joined the conveyor belt of Indian left-arm seamers, taking 34 wickets in six Ranji Trophy games for Uttar Pradesh, the joint-highest for the summer. He made the national one-day squad at the end of 2005, and took two wickets in his second over of international cricket, against Zimbabwe at Harare in September. He took four wickets (and the match award) against Sri Lanka in his third game, and three more in his fourth, before a run of four wicketless matches cost him his place after the first match of the West Indies tour in May 2006. He also won a couple of Test caps, winning the match award on his debut for some persistent bowling on a shirtfront at Faisalabad, where Pakistan ran up 588. He drifted out of contention after that, but he is still young, and well respected in the Indian set-up, as Virender Sehwag confirmed: "RP is a very talented bowler - his specialty is that he can bring the ball into the right-handers and swing it both ways." He was recalled for the tours of Bangladesh and England in 2007. It was the start of his most prolific season, which included a five-wicket haul at Lord's, crucial strikes in the victorious ICC World Twenty20 and a four-wicket haul in Perth which shut Australia out of the match. However, his bowling lacked bite after the tour of Australia and went wicket-less in the home Tests against South Africa.