Pankaj Singh: Playing Test cricket for India is a dream come true

Pankaj Singh pleads to the umpire for an lbw decision against Ian Bell

There are few who have had to toil harder than Pankaj Singh has had to for his Test debut. Season after season, he has bowled his heart out for Rajasthan in the Ranji Trophy on predominantly lifeless pitches. It would have been pretty easy for him to have come to the conclusion that his chance of playing Test cricket for India had gone and that luck was never by his side.

After all, he made his first-class debut way back in 2004 and has taken heaps of wickets, 300 from 77 matches to be precise, in domestic cricket. But Pankaj, to his credit, never gave up and his hour of reckoning finally came, as he was awarded his Test debut, at the age of 29, against England in the 3rd Test at Ageas Bowl, Southampton.

Speaking after his first day as an Indian Test cricketer, Pankaj couldn’t contain his excitement.

“It’s a big achievement. It took me 10 years to get here,” Pankaj, in an exclusive interview to BCCI TV, said. “This was my biggest dream, to play Test cricket for India and I have made it true today.”

Pankaj added that he never gave up hope of playing Test cricket for India and that he’s never really known anything in life apart from playing cricket. “I never gave up on this dream. How could I? There would have been nothing for me to work hard for. Where would I have gone without this dream and without my cricket?”

The 29-year old fast bowler has had to overcome plenty of misfortunes over his long career. Therefore, a dropped catch of Alastair Cook, who was on 15 at the time and went on to make 95, by Ravindra Jadeja at 3rd slip and a close lbw appeal, late in the day, going against him weren’t going to faze him.

Pankaj stressed bowling in the same area consistently and remaining patient as the key attributes in order to succeed in Test match cricket. “You have to keep repeating the same thing over and over again and have to have much more patience than you need at the domestic level.

“If there you get a wicket after bowling five good overs, at the domestic level, you’ll have to bowl 10 at this level, because the batsmen are so much better.”

He added with an ironic grin, “And you also have to wait for your luck.”