CHENNAI: When the current India U-19 World Cup-winning captain Yash Dhull made his first-class debut for Delhi, all eyes were on him. While the makeshift Delhi opener flourished with centuries in both innings against Tamil Nadu last week, not many U-19 stars on the brink of stardom have had the same kind of head start in senior cricket. Railways opener Vivek Singh is one among them.
Hailing from West Bengal, Vivek took to cricket at a young age and watching Yuvraj Singh, the only Indian to have won U-19, ODI and T20 World Cups, he became a left-hander. While he did not play for the India U-19, the southpaw said that he was a part of the probables and reserves for the 2012 U-19 side, led by Unmukt Chand, that won the World Cup.
Since then, the journey in domestic cricket has been a hard toil for him. Made his first-class debut for Railways in 2015, moved back to Bengal a couple of years later, and now, back with Railways again, the left-handed opener is looking for a second coming in his career in the ongoing season.
In their first match against Karnataka, Vivek was instrumental in Railways getting closer to the opponents’ first innings total of 481. The second match was no different, as the southpaw made an elegant 92 against Pondicherry on day two before getting out in the final over of the day. Right from ball one, he took a measured approach, waiting for the bad deliveries and leaving or blocking the rest of it. A knock that was very much unlike his 59 against Karnataka a week before.
“With Karnataka, the pacers tried to attack and take wickets so there were more loose balls on the offering, but today, Pondicherry were bowling on consistent line and length and I had to bide my time and play patiently,” the 28-year-old told this daily.
Vivek missed out on his first Ranji century by just eight runs, as a sharp delivery from Pavan Deshpande that spun, took the edge, and Paras Dogra completed a brilliant catch at first slip. But, he did not seem to be frustrated about it or at least was better at covering it. “What can I do? I got a good ball and got out. Yes, I missed out on a first hundred, but there is very little I can control about it now,” he said.
In many ways, it seemed like he was reflecting on his career rather than his dismissal. Having played age-group cricket for Bengal, the flamboyant left-hander took up the Railways job and made the under-23 debut for them, but soon, he moved back to his state team again, and flourished, especially in white-ball cricket.
In T20s, he scored over 1106 runs in 40 matches for Bengal. He was the top run-scorer for the state in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in 2019-20 and 2020-21, including a 64-ball century against Jharkhand in 2021. But for some reason, he wasn’t getting picked for the first-class side.
“If you look at my numbers from the last three years, I have been scoring consistently as an opener for Bengal. But, I wasn’t getting any opportunities at the next level. Hence, decided to move back to Railways. It was frustrating, but what can an athlete do apart from putting in the work on the field. I just want to take what I have now and move forward,” said Vivek, who had attended trials with Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals IPL franchises in the past.
Zakariya Zuffri, head coach of Railways, said that the southpaw has matured a lot in the last few years and with experience, he has turned into a determined batter from a flashy young opener. “Not only today, in the last three seasons, he has looked very compact. He has worked on his batting skills as well as mental aspects of the game and it shows,” said Zakariya, who believes this could be the turnaround the opener has been looking for.
Vivek, too, hopes the same. “Only if I keep performing, I can stay in the limelight and help myself in my career and that’s what I intend to do,” he signed off