RR vs RCB: Swapnil Singh breaks down into tears; reveals how RCB lifted him out of darkness

Royal Challengers Bengaluru left-arm off-spinner Swapnil Singh got emotional while talking about his journey in the Indian Premier League. 

Swapnil Singh was roped in by the RCB management led by head coach Andy Flower on his base price of INR 20 Lakhs. He got re-united with Flower after a year of spending time with him and earning his debut cap while playing for the Lucknow Super Giants. Very few know that Swapnil was first bought by the Mumbai Indians during the 2008 auctions. 

A former teammate of Virat Kohli during their U-19 days, Swapnil Singh could not play a single match for MI. In 2016, he was acquired by the Punjab Kings for 10 Lakhs but there, too, he could not become a starting XI player and remained only on the bench.

Last year he was called up by the LSG franchise to be their net bowler and as a result of his good performance, he was given just 2 matches to play. 

Swapnil Singh talks about the time when he was picked by RCB

While speaking in an exclusive interview on RCB Bold Diaries, Swapnil Singh explained what it felt like when he was sold to the RCB during IPL 2024 auctions. The 33-year-old, who represents Uttarakhand in the Domestic circuit, revealed that he was traveling with the team for a Ranji Trophy match when the auctions in Dubai were taking place. 

Before the auctions, Swapnil Singh had appeared in an RCB camp which was supervised by new coach Andy Flower who worked with the former in LSG (2023). In that trial, Swapnil had a decent performance and he had pleaded to Flower about picking him in the auction as it might be his last chance to play in the IPL. 

However, the off-spinner had gone unsold during the initial rounds of the auction. With the final round going on, Swapnil had no hope at all to get picked. He instantly thought of quitting cricket after playing a season or so if he didn't make it to any IPL team. But that's when his family called him to inform him that Andy Flower granted his wish and bought him for 20 Lakhs. 

"The day of the auction, I was traveling to Dehradun for a Ranji game, and we landed somewhere around 7-8 PM. The last round of IPL auction was going on, and nothing had happened till that time. I frankly thought to myself, it’s done. Thank you."

"I will play the ongoing season (Ranji), and if needed the next one and call it quits because I do not want to play all my life. There are a lot of other things I can do to be successful). I was very disappointed. But when the moment my family called, we broke down. Not many know how much of an emotional journey it was… That was it" - Swapnil Singh said via RCB Bold Diaries. 

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘄𝗮𝗽𝗻𝗶𝗹 𝗦𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗵 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 is special for a number of reasons! Keep those tissues handy. If you’re not his fan already, you’ll end up becoming one.🥹❤

Watch Swapnil’s emotional and inspiring journey on @bigbasket_com presents RCB Bold Diaries!#PlayBold pic.twitter.com/8wlNNjsfxo

— Royal Challengers Bengaluru (@RCBTweets) May 20, 2024

How has Swapnil Singh performed in IPL 2024? 

From 6 matches, Swapnil Singh has picked up 6 wickets at a decent economy rate of 8.77. With the bat, he scored 28 runs at a 164.71 strike rate. He was also a part of the RCB side which had defeated the Chennai Super Kings to qualify for the play-offs.

In that match, Swapnil had come in as the Impact Player bowled 2 overs and conceded 13 runs along with the very important run out of Rachin Ravindra.