Swapnil Singh quietly transforms himself into a man for all occasions

Just a few weeks ago, every Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) fan asked, “Who is Swapnil Singh?”

But as things have turned out, 33-year-old Swapnil Singh has proven to be the answer to a lot of RCB’s problems. When the left-arm spinner debuted against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), he put on a show with the ball in hand. 

Bowling in perhaps the toughest phase of the innings (powerplay), the Uttarakhand spinner first trapped Aiden Markram right in front of the stumps. A few deliveries later, the left-arm spinner picked the biggest scalp, Heinrich Klaasen. With figures of 2/40, he made quite an entry into the hearts of the RCB fans. 

"I had told at home that if I get to play, I will bowl at least six balls, but in that over, I ended up bowling seven balls. So, I believe it was God's plan. In my mind, I was thinking that I should use my experience and bowl accordingly. I wanted to bowl the delivery which I have practiced," Swapnil told IPLT20. 

"Klaasen's wicket was a prime example. Before the wicket, he hit me for a six on a ball that dipped. I was thinking that I have already conceded a six, so I should bowl my best ball on the last ball. With God's blessing, I got him out," the 33-year-old added. 

Swapnil was not just bowling in a tough phase, he was doing it with such confidence. The left-arm spinner then repeated the feat against Gujarat Titans on April 28 (Sunday), removing Wriddhiman Saha in the first over. 

Out of nowhere, Swapnil suddenly became a vital cog in RCB’s new-ball plans, striking thrice with the new ball, picking key wickets.

On May 9 (Thursday), defending 242, early strikes were the need of the hour and entered Swapnil. 

The left-arm spinner, bowling with the new ball, darted one quickly into the right-handed Prabhsimran Singh, catching the batter by surprise. There was no way that the PBKS batter could have anticipated the ball to dart back in as sharply as it did.

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In just the first six over-phase, the left-arm spinner has picked up four wickets this season, averaging 12.8. But what’s impressive is that he has a dot-ball percentage of 43.3%. His modus operandi of targeting the stumps - hitting the sticks 50% of the time - has made him a difficult opponent to put away.

For bowlers with a minimum of five overs, only Shahbaz Ahmed has hit the stumps (66.6%) more than Swapnil. In a phase where the spinners’ mean average is hovering around 31.5, Swapnil’s return of 12.8 is quite remarkable. 

Over the last 16 years, only one RCB spinner has had better returns than Swapnil in the 1-6 phase - Samuel Badree’s six wickets in 2017. He isn’t as fancy as someone like Yuzvendra Chahal or someone as notable as Washington Sundar but what Swapnil is doing this season is quite underrated.

“Initially the ball was swinging, so the thought was to swing the ball. Actually the pressure is less because everyone is going for runs,” the left-arm spinner said after the match against PBKS, revealing how he uses the new ball to his advantage.

Against Punjab, the left-arm spinner’s magic didn’t end with the dismissal of Prabhsimran. After swinging the ball early on, his method later on was to get some grip, evident in how he dismissed Liam Livingstone. RCB finally worked out the formula that allowed them to extract the most out of their spin unit. 

“In that we discussed we haven't used our spinners as effectively as we could. So we started doing that better. As we are on a roll, things are like we have to hit our own areas and plan against batters,” he added. 

Over the last four games, Swapnil has turned the script of his own story.

The story is no longer 'Who is Swapnil Singh?'. It is 'Swapnil Singh, the man who is here to pick wickets'. Quite a story of a veteran who has flipped RCB’s season around.

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