Rahul Dravid sir told me to hit the right areas says, Manipur's 10 wicket wonder Rex Singh
India's domestic cricket circuit creates star players with each passing day. The abundance of talent in the domestic circuit portrays India's talented cricketers. Ranji Trophy, the tournament which consists of four-day-matches provides youngsters with an opportunity to showcase their talent. While the tough guns battle it out in the Ranji Trophy, the younger ones are first nurtured in the Cooch Behar Trophy.
The 2018 edition of the Cooch Behar Trophy witnessed something spectacular as Manipur's skittled Arunachal Pradesh on 36 courtesy Rex Singh's ten wickets in an innings. The left arm pacer had already bagged five wickets in the first innings, in the second innings Singh bagged 10 wickets conceding only eleven runs in his 9.5 overs. Singh became an overnight star in domestic cricket as people termed him as India's Wasim Akram.
Success followed him soon as he made his Ranji Trophy debut later that year. Recently, the southpaw was named in India under 19's squad to face South Africa under 19 in a two match series at Trivandrum. Rex played the second youth test of the series where he dismissed four South African batsmen in the second innings as India bundled them out for 85 to win the test.
Sportskeeda caught up with the youngster after the two-match series.
"I started playing cricket in 2011. I've been practising hard since then. At Northeast, we did not get many facilities earlier but we're now full members of the BCCI and now I think we are also having the facilities as other states but in Northeast, the rain is a huge problem. It's tough to practice outdoors due to the rain and we need an indoor facility for practice, but we don't have that", Rex told Sportskeeda when asked about cricket in Northeast.
His figures of 10 for 11 were registered in the record books, on this, he said, "I was elated when I took ten wickets in the innings. I kept bowling in good areas and finally, I got all ten wickets with the help of my teammates. Both my teammates and support staff helped me a lot during that time."
The India U19 side is fortunate to have Rahul Dravid as their coach. When asked about him, Rex said, "Rahul Dravid sir tells us many things that are important for us and our future. Sir told me that I've swing in my hand, so I need to maintain my line and length and I've to keep hitting the right areas." The 18-year-old emphasized on the fact of hitting the right areas while bowling.
For now, the fast bowler's goal is to perform well in domestic cricket. "Playing domestic cricket and U19 cricket is not that different. It's almost the same. At this level, I cannot try much, I've to keep bowling in the right areas and be patient. In the future, my goal is to represent the Indian team so I'll try to perform well in domestic cricket," said Rex.