"I cleaned toilets and changed bins, it was humiliating" - Simi Singh's inspirational journey to the top of Irish cricket

After realizing that he probably wasn't going to get any higher through the ranks of Punjab cricket and play for India, Simi Singh decided to take the plunge and look for opportunities in foreign countries.

The dream of the then-youngster was to play international cricket, and one such glimmer of opportunity came through his friend, who trained with him in Mohali.

Speaking in an exclusive chat with Sportskeeda, Simi Singh recalled how the opportunity to become a professional cricketer in Ireland came about.

He said:

"I never thought about Ireland specifically. It was just one of my friends. He used to play cricket with me in Mohali and he moved to Ireland to study. Then he just rang me out of the blue one of the days because he admired my game."

He continued:

"So that's when he suggested to come to Ireland for a season, try and come here, play a season and see if I like it here. He said, “You got a good opportunity, you might be able to play for Ireland.”"

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Simi Singh on adjusting to life in Ireland

Simi Singh's financial background was pretty stable, and he also didn't have to face many hardships during his time in India.

However, when you go to a foreign country, especially on a student visa, you probably have to take up a part-time job to support your standard of living.

On this, he stated:

"I am my parents' only child. I grew up in Mohali and my parents had government jobs. So I was from a good middle-class family and there weren’t any problems financially."

He added:

"So, as you said, I never did any household work or I didn't have to worry about all that. So that was obviously a big challenge when I moved abroad to get used to that lifestyle."

Getting adjusted to new surroundings is always tough, and that's exactly what happened to Simi Singh in Ireland. In fact, it was worse due to his part-time job in a hardware store.

Speaking about the difficulties he had to face during the job, Simi recalled:

"I remember I had a job in a hardware store. There's a lot of timber and all that stuff, so I had to move full pallets of wood from one place to the shelf so it took about 5 hours, it was kind of labor work so I never done that before."

He concluded:

"I had to do what my boss wanted. I cleaned the toilets changed the bins outside and those kind of jobs were humiliating. But at the time I think that was important in my journey and my dream to become a proper first-class cricketer."

Despite all these hardships, it is truly inspiring that Simi Singh finally made it to the Ireland national team. At 35, he continues to be an important all-rounder who gives them the balance they need.