I was handed my debut way too early, says Maninder Singh
Maninder Singh has revealed that he was not ready to handle the pressure of performing constantly for India or success at an early age when he made his debut for the country. He was expected to become one of the country’s most successful spinners until personal problems cut his career short.
Maninder Singh was a cricketing prodigy who was bound to become one of the cricketing greats of the country judging by the numbers early on in his career. Renowned for his ability to bowl with different kinds of variations and to change the spin and flight at will, Singh made his debut when only 17-years-old. He was, at the time, the youngest ever cricketer to play for India when he took the field in Karachi in 1982 against arch-rivals Pakistan. He would go on to pick 88 wickets in 35 Tests, but soon the wickets dried up and at the ripe age of 30, he called it a time.
“No, no. Too early . I feel generally spinners and batsmen should be given some more time in first-class cricket. Fast bowlers can be picked raw. At that time I felt I was ready because I was getting a lot of wickets. But later I realised if I had a couple of seasons of first-class cricket, probably I would have been in a better position to handle the ups and downs of international cricket,” the now 54 year old cricket commentator said in an exclusive interview with ESPNCricinfo.
Handed his first class debut by the legend Bishan Singh Bedi, the very man whom he was supposed to succeed, things soon took a bad turn for Singh as the inability to cope up with the pressure would make him an alcoholic. He suffered from anger management issues and tendencies to harm himself as well, before also being arrested for possession of drugs 15 years after he had stopped playing.
“To handle success is also not easy, especially when you are very young. Everybody cannot be a Sachin Tendulkar or a Rahul Dravid or a Sourav Ganguly. Even Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly played a couple of seasons in first-class cricket [before making their international debut]. Why don't we get a driving licence before 18? Because we are not ready, right? And after getting a driver's licence, you have driven for a year or so, then you get the confidence that you can drive now. This is international cricket. This is the case with your life,” Singh added.
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