IPL 2021: 3 things you need to know about Tim David, RCB's latest recruit
Tim David became the first cricketer from Singapore to earn an IPL contract earlier today. Royal Challengers Bangalore signed him as a replacement for Finn Allen. David is likely to make his IPL debut next month in the United Arab Emirates.
While Singapore is not among the top-ranked T20I teams at the moment, their all-rounder Tim David has made a name for himself with his performances in T20 leagues and international matches as well. So far in his T20I career, David has played 14 matches, scoring 558 runs at a strike rate of close to 160.
The 25-year-old also bowls right-arm off-spin. He has five wickets to his name in 11 T20I innings. Speaking of Tim David, here are some lesser-known facts you need to know about the newest member of the Royal Challengers Bangalore team.
1. Tim David's father Rod played for Singapore
Tim David's father Rod played cricket professionally in Singapore. Rod David was born in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, but he represented the Singapore team.
Tim followed in the footsteps of his father Rod and became an all-rounder in cricket. Rod was a right-handed batsman and a right-arm medium pacer. Apart from the Singapore team, he also played club cricket for Singapore Chinese Recreation Club.
2. Tim David is ranked higher than Faf du Plessis, David Warner and Rishabh Pant in ICC T20I Rankings for Batsmen
Dawid Malan currently holds the number one position in the ICC T20I Rankings for Batsmen. Babar Azam, Devon Conway, Aaron Finch and Virat Kohli follow him in the Top 5.
Singapore's Tim David is in a 55th position at the moment. He has 457 rating points to his name and is ahead of top-quality players like Faf du Plessis, David Warner, Rishabh Pant, Kieron Pollard, Shimron Hetmyer, Ross Taylor, Steve Smith, Tamim Iqbal and Manish Pandey on the batting charts.
Interestingly, David is also 24 places ahead of Finn Allen, the player whom he has replaced in the Royal Challengers Bangalore squad.
3. Tim David made his T20 debut in the Big Bash League
Australia's Big Bash League is one of the world's top T20 competitions. It is a big achievement for any player from an associate nation to be a part in the Big Bash League. Tim David got an opportunity to play in the Big Bash League before he played a T20I match for Singapore.
David made his T20 debut for the Perth Scorchers against the Sydney Sixers in a match played at the WACA Ground during the 2017/18 BBL season. Sydney set a 168-run target for the home side.
Michael Klinger's 61-ball 83 helped Perth reach closer to the target. David completed the formalities with skipper Adam Voges. The Singapore-batsman scored 17 runs off ten deliveries, smashing two sixes on his T20 debut.
David represented the Hobart Hurricanes in the most recent BBL season. He aggregated 279 runs in 14 innings for Hobart. Besides, David has also earned contracts from teams in the Pakistan Super League (Lahore Qalandars), Men's Hundred (Southern Brave) and Caribbean Premier League (St. Lucia Kings).