Mahendra Pratap Singh brings out an old, torn-out newspaper clipping and points his finger at a picture, where a young spinner is seen celebrating the wicket of the then-India international Gautam Gambhir.
“That’s me. I was that bowler,” Singh tells Sportstar with a smile.
The picture is from April 2006, when Singh, a left-arm spinner, featured for the Uttar Pradesh Police team in Sheesh Mahal Cup - one of Lucknow’s iconic local tournaments - and claimed the prized wickets of Gambhir and Joginder Sharma, en route to his four-wicket haul against a Sahara India team.
“After the match, Gambhir walked up to me and heaped praises. He encouraged me to pursue the game further, but life had other plans,” Singh says, standing in one corner of the Green Park Stadium, where he is deputed on ‘official duty’ for the ongoing second Test between India and Bangladesh.
As a matter of coincidence, Gambhir is now the head coach of the Indian team, and ever since the team landed in Kanpur, Singh - an inspector at the Crime Branch in Hamirpur - has been looking after their security.
“But I did not get a chance to meet Gambhir,” he says smiling: “I am sure he wouldn’t remember me, but his wicket at the Sheesh Mahal Cup will remain my prized possession forever…”
Hailing from Prayagraj, Singh was in Uttar Pradesh’s Ranji Trophy probables list for three seasons, but wasn’t lucky enough to break into the squad. “I was there in the probables - 2005-06, 2006-07, 2009-11. UP did not have a great outing and was largely inconsistent during this phase, but I wasn’t given an opportunity,” he says.
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Having trained with the likes of Suresh Raina and RP Singh during the camp, Singh has fond memories of his playing days, but the fact that a state cup eluded him still hurts. “I have been a regular member of the UP Police team and have also captained the team for a few years, so I have thoroughly enjoyed my journey. While playing for the police team, we would attend the trials for UP Ranji Trophy and that’s how I made it to the list of probables,” he says.
Looking back at that Sheesh Mahal Cup game from 2006, Singh rues missing out on a five-for. Apart from the wickets of Gambhir and Joginder, he also dismissed Subhamoy Das and Laxmi Ratan Shukla. “Gambhir was forging a long partnership, and I found the breakthrough,” he says.
“But then, one of the catches was dropped in that match, and that’s why I could not get a fifer. It hurt back then, but now I feel happy with the fact that I dismissed a few star India cricketers…”
While his busy job does not allow him to watch the game regularly, whenever there’s an opportunity, Singh makes it a point to catch a glimpse of the sport he loves. “The last few days have been sort of a walk down memory lane for me, where I also got to catch a glimpse of the game while on duty,” Singh says.
A couple of decades back, Singh dreamed of making a name for himself as a cricketer, but life has taken him in a new direction. But those old pictures and torn-out newspaper clips often remind him of those days when he was ‘crazy about the game’.
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