Flashback: The first WI-born player to play Tests for India
Players being born in one country and playing cricket for another country is common in the sport of cricket. Many players over the years have done this in the cricketing world. But India’s Robin Singh was the first one to be born in West Indies and play Test cricket for India.
Robin, an all-rounder, was born on September 14, 1963, at Princess Town in Trinidad, West Indies to Indo-Trinidadian parents. He moved to India in 1984 and played just a solitary Test match in his career.
His only Test came against Zimbabwe in Harare in the year 1998 where the left-handed batter made 15 runs in the first innings and got LBW to Henry Olonga. He made 12 runs in the second innings and was out LBW yet again, this time to Neil Johnson.
His Test debut wasn’t memorable for neither him nor the team as India lost the game to Zimbabwe by 61 runs. Robin, who celebrates his 59th birthday this year, appeared in 136 ODI matches for India. In 113 innings, he scored 2336 runs at an average of 25.95 and a strike rate of 74.30. He struck one century and nine half-centuries with the highest score of 100.
With the ball in hand, the right-arm medium-fast bowler snared 69 scalps in 117 innings at an average of 43.26 with the best bowling figures of 5/22 in one-day internationals.
Interestingly, Robin’s ODI debut came against West Indies at his birthplace in Trinidad, in March 1989. His 12-year international career ended when he last played an ODI against Australia in Visakhapatnam in 2001. He also featured in 137 and 228 first-class and List A matches.
