"Told my father I wanted to become a fast bowler like Brett Lee"- Himmat Singh on how he fell in love with cricket
Delhi batter Himmat Singh's father had a massive influence on the 27-year-old's journey to becoming a professional cricketer. A young boy from the national capital, Himmat began watching the game of cricket with his father and gradually developed an interest as a viewer.
His childhood coincided with one of the most dominant teams of all time as Ricky Ponting's Australia ruled the cricket world. Himmat quickly became a fan of legendary pacer Brett Lee.
Speaking exclusively to Sportskeeda in an interview arranged by FairPlay Sports, Himmat Singh spoke about his father's interest in cricket and how Brett Lee's success almost convinced the youngster to become a medium pacer. He said:
"I told my father I wanted to become like Brett Lee. My father also wanted me to become a fast bowler because then even if I don't play for India, at least I would be fit (laughs)."
He further added:
"My father used to encourage me to play sports ever since childhood. He had put both my sisters in lawn tennis classes. I wasn't serious about sport, but when I shifted to a new locality in 2004 when I was 7 years old, playing in the gullies raised my interest in cricket."
Himmat Singh's father took him to the Sonnet Cricket Club in Delhi, a famous breeding ground for Indian talents like Rishabh Pant. It was the legendary late Tarak Sinha who trained Himmat from an early age to become a professional cricketer.
Himmat Singh on how he transitioned from being a medium pacer to a batter
One often hears stories about how cricketers end up having a primary skill completely different from what they started with. Rohit Sharma was an off-spinner who later became a batter. Kuldeep Yadav wanted to bowl left-arm pace, only to later become a wrist-spinner.
Himmat Singh's development over the years helped him realize that he had a better potential as a proper batter. On this, he stated:
"I initially used to be a pinch hitter, but gradually my batting kept on improving. Feeling like an all-rounder, I became a fan of Andrew Flintoff. As I grew up and got to understand the game better, I became more of a batter and realized just how great Sachin Tendulkar is. By the time I was a teenager, I also became a fan of Virat (Kohli) bhaiya."
Despite admiring the game of several aforementioned cricketers, Himmat Singh admitted that he was the biggest admirer of South African legend AB de Villiers. On this, he added:
"I haven't been a bigger fan of any other player than I was of AB de Villiers. To watch his batting, I would just stop everything and switch on the TV to watch a South Africa game."
Admiring the great De Villiers, Himmat Singh has grown into a solid middle-order batter for Delhi and is also their skipper in the ongoing Ranji Trophy 2023/24.