When there are discussions about the amazing turnaround of Royal Challengers Bengaluru in IPL 2024, people talk about Virat Kohli maintaining his scorching form and getting helpful support from Will Jacks, Glenn Maxwell, Cameron Green, Rajat Patidar and Dinesh Karthik. Mohammed Siraj will be mentioned for his impressive comeback with the ball. Amidst the glitter, one name will never go unnoticed for important contributions, mostly as an Impact Player.

Swapnil Singh was initially selected by the Mumbai Indians in the auction during the 2008 IPL season. However, it took him 16 years to make his debut until the previous season, when he played for the Lucknow Super Giants. When Swapnil saw Flower at Bengaluru’s pre-season trial camp, he mentioned that it might be his “last” and all he wanted for was ‘one last chance’ before the Zimbabwean legend moved bases to the Royal Challengers of Bengaluru.

Speaking to RCB, the 33-year-old reminisced on his ’emotional journey’ in cricket, which began with debut for Baroda at the age of 14 and included sharing the room with Virat Kohli during their early career tours.

“I was heading to Dehradun for a Ranji game on the day of the auction, and we arrived probably between 7-8 PM. It was the final round and nothing happened until that point. It’s done, I thought to myself very honestly. I’m grateful. Since there are many other things I can do to succeed, I don’t want to play for the rest of my life. Instead, I will play the current season (Ranji) and, if necessary, the next one before calling it quits. I felt really let down. However, we broke down the instant my family called. Few people know how emotional the journey was,” Swapnil said.

During the early half of the season, RCB was unable to find the ideal spin combination. They went to Swapnil, who not only starred with the ball but also returned the favor with the bat.

He made his debut against Sunrisers Hyderabad and claimed prized scalps of Heinrich Klaasen and Aiden Markram in the span of five deliveries. Later on, he was given powerplay responsibilities by RCB for the next four games. In addition, he displayed exceptional economy against CSK, giving up just 13 runs in two overs and taking the crucial catch to dismiss MS Dhoni.

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