Player Profile #50: RP Singh (India)

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 has 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.

Reportedly, Singh has also hit 149kpmh. In home series against Australia in October 2007 he regularly bowled at late 140s and repeated his hostile spells in the home soil of Aussies. However his last two tests against South Africa in his home soil was very dissapointing.

Links on more info for RP Singh:

RP Singh on Cricinfo.com
RP Singh images


*Acknowledgements to Wikipedia.org and owners of pictures and videos used.

Player Profile(#31)...Jason Krejza (Australia)

Jason John Krejza (born January 14, 1983, Sydney, Australia) is an Australian cricketer. He also plays for the Tasmanian Tigers and Leicestershire. Krejza's father was a soccer player from Czechoslovakia and his mother was born in Poland. His nickname is "Krazy".

Krejza is an all-rounder, contributing to the team mainly as a right arm off-break bowler, but also as a right handed lower-middle order batsman. He became a regular in the NSW team in 2004/05 but lost his place in 2006/07. However solid form for Sydney Grade team UTS-Balmain led to his inclusion in the NSW limited overs team towards the end of 2006. On December 21, 2006 Krejza announced that he would leave the New South Wales Blues to join the Tasmanian Tigers due to being considered 4th choice behind spinners Stuart MacGill, Nathan Hauritz and Beau Casson in the selection process.

After crossing over mid-season to Tasmania [2006-7 season], Krejza played in 2 Pura Cup games, claiming 5 wickets and scoring a disappointing 17 runs in two innings. In the Ford Ranger Cup competition, however, he made his mark, taking 8 wickets in 4 games whilst also scoring 83 runs, with a top score of 53 not out.

During the off-season, his cricketing career was placed at risk after being caught speeding and drink-driving by Hobart police. He was subsequently suspended from Tasmania's pre-season training and warned to stay away from alcohol by his team's leadership group.

His renewed dedication to cricket saw him excel in the 2007-8 season. In the Pura Cup, he played 7 games and scored 289 runs at an average of 36.12, with a high score of 63. He also took 18 wickets at 47.11. The only downside to his season was that he did not break into the one-day side, with incumbent Xavier Doherty being Tasmania's sole spin bowler in the one-day arena. He played only one game, and was named 12th man in Tasmania's competition victory against Victoria.

Before being named to Australia's A Team tour to India in August, Tyler Bedurke claimed him and then he was selected for Australia's Test tour of India. With his selection, Australian chairman of selectors Andrew Hilditch said, "Jason Krejza had a good season for Tasmania last year but is a selection very much for Indian conditions. The selectors felt right-arm finger spinners would perform well in India and Jason now has a chance to prove himself at the international level."

Krejza was seen as the second spinner in the squad behind Bryce McGain. However, McGain was sent home injured. Krejza was attacked by the Indian Board President's XI in a tour match, conceding 0/199 in 31 overs, and he was then excluded from the first three Tests at the expense of McGain's replacement, Cameron White. This was despite captain Ricky Ponting frequently hinting that Krejza would play and predicting that India's senior batsmen would not have the gumption to attack him.

Krejza eventually made his debut in the fourth test in Nagpur, which Australia must win in order to draw the series and retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. He came in at the expense of fast bowler Stuart Clark. Rahul Dravid became his first wicket. He went on to claim 8 wickets for 215 runs in the 1st innings. In the process, he became just the 14th Australian to take 5 or more wickets in an innings on debut and also created the unenviable world-record of conceding the most runs for any bowler on debut, while also taking most wickets in his first test match innings. It has also beaten his best first class bowling of 4 for 91. In the second innings he took a further 4 wickets for 143 runs, leaving him with figures of 12 wickets for 358 runs in his first test.

To view Jason Krejza's Cricinfo profile click HERE, also his supporters' site at www.jasonkrejza.com is a must see.





*Acknowledgements to Wikipedia.com, Cricinfo.com and the owners of pictures and videos used.