CHENNAI: Harmeet Singh was adjudged the player of the match award for his impressive figures of 4/21, which guided USA to a 93-run win against Netherlands in their T20 World Cup match under the lights at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Friday. Singh, who played domestic cricket in India, later moved to the USA, played Minor League Cricket there and is now one of the mainstays in the senior men’s cricket team.
Apart from revelling in the victory, Singh, 33, had revealed the infrastructural gaps the country faces to help talents grow. “We need more and more infrastructure. And back in the 90s, India was also facing infrastructure crisis. And since the time we had infrastructure here, cricket has been different. Since the time NCA and all these academies have come up and infrastructure plus quality coaches have come up, even the next generation of Indian players and all the other Test playing nations have done well. So I think the difference between us being a top nation and right now where we are is infrastructure. I think that's all the help we need,” Singh said during the post-match press conference on Friday.
His comments came after USA wicketkeeper Shayan Jahangir said that the USA has “not been watered properly,” by the ICC. "The exposure and the kind of funding that we get from the ICC is lacking. I think if the ICC pays more attention to us and all the associate nations, you'll see more big games and you'll see these teams changing their tag from associate nations to big teams as well,” he said.
Singh sang from the same hymn sheets as his teammate. “This team has immense potential. We need more and more international games, international series against top sides and we have that confidence to finish games against them. In both the games we competed (vs India & Pakistan) (we) competed really well. There were phases we were on top in both the games, and we are talking about top two, top three nations in the world. If you just look at the funding size they have versus what we have, with whatever practice we get, we put up a show. and the world has watched,” he said.
USA next face Namibia on Sunday, the same day when India and Pakistan lock horns in Colombo. The team that defeated Pakistan in the previous edition will eye another win when they take the field at Chepauk.