Rex Singh becomes first cricketer from Manipur to get selected in an Indian team

Rex Singh has been named in India U19 squad for two four-day matches against South Africa U19 starting on February 20.

18-year-old left-arm medium pacer Rex Singh became the first cricketer from Manipur to be selected for an Indian team after being named in the India U-19 squad to take on South Africa U-19 in a two-match ‘Test’ series, starting February 20.

Rex is set to become the second cricketer from Northeast to represent India in any form after Assam fast bowler Abu Nechim Ahmed in U-19 World Cup 2006.  Rex, who had made headlines after claiming all 10 wickets in an innings in an Under-19 Cooch Behar Trophy match against Arunachal Pradesh in December last year, is expected to lead India’s new-ball attack against South Africa.

10 wickets in an inning in Ranji game.. superb action brilliant swing bowling REX Singh.. good prospect.. wish you the best going forward pic.twitter.com/HqbWRJbKQ2

— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) December 17, 2018

On the back of impressive performances in Cooch Behar Trophy, Rex was straight away included in Manipur’s Ranji Trophy squad. He played 2 first-class matches without a great deal of success but his ability to move the red ball got everyone talking.

Apart from Rex, Uttarakhand top-order batsman Avneesh Sudha, who scored 119 runs on his Ranji trophy debut this season, has also been included in India’s U-19 squad for the four-day matches.

Rajasthan’s Suraj Ahuja will lead the India U-19 team in the two four-day matches.

Two other Uttarakhand cricketers made it to the India U-19 A and U-19 B teams for the quadrangular one-day series involving South Africa U-19 and Afghanistan U-19. The one-dayers will be played from March 5-11 in Thiruvananthapuram.

Nehal Wadhera of Punjab and Rahul Chandrol of Madhya Pradesh will lead India A and B respectively.

India U19 Squad for 4-day games against South Africa U19: Suraj Ahuja (C & WK) (Team Rajasthan), Divyaansh Saxena (MCA), Varun Nayanar (Kerala), Avneesh Sudha (Team Uttarakhand), Yashasvi Jaiswal (MCA), Vaibhav Kandpal (DDCA), Shaurya Saran (HPCA), Hrithik Shokeen (DDCA), Manav Suthar (Team Rajasthan), Manishi (JSCA), Sabir Khan (Bihar), Anshul Kamboj (Haryana), Rajvardhan Hangargekar (MHCA), Rohit Dattatraya (VCA), Rex Singh (Manipur), Vathsal Sharma (Kerala)

For Quadrangular series

India U19 A: Nehal Wadhera (C) (PCA), Yashasvi Jaiswal (MCA), Qamran Iqbal (JKCA), Arjun Azad (PCA), Priyansh Arya (DDCA), Shashwat Rawat (BCA), Dhruv Chand Jurel (WK) (UPCA), Siddhesh Veer (MHCA), Ravi M Bishnoi (Team Rajasthan), Yuvraj Chaudhary (PCA), Shubhang Hegde (KSCA), Yatin Mangwani (MHCA), Ishan Afridi (MPCA), Kartik Tyagi (UPCA), Harsh Dubey (VCA), Akash Singh (Team Rajasthan)

India U19 B: Rahul Chandrol (C & WK) (MPCA), Thakur Tilak Verma (HYCA), Varun Lavande (MCA), Arya Sethi (Team Uttarakhand), Pragnesh Kanpillewar (MCA), Pradosh Ranjan Paul (TNCA), Sameer Rizvi (UPCA), Nitish Reddy (Andhra CA), Prayas Rayburman (CAB), Shivam Sharma (UPCA), Atharva Ankolekar (MCA), Sumeet Juyal (Team Uttarakhand), Prabhat Maurya (CAB), Sushant Mishra (JSCA), Purnank Tyagi (UPCA), Karan Lal (CAB).