5/6, 9/46, 7/24, 6/25 – aren’t these bowling figures a dream for many bowlers? What if we tell you there is one bowler who has achieved such bowling figures at an age of 45+ in Mumbai’s Professional Cricket! Yes we are talking about none other than Digvijay Singh. Digvijay even at the age of 53 can give many youngsters a run for the money!
Digvijay- a veteran now in Mumbai Cricket made his First Class & List A Debut for Goa way back in the season of 1999-2000 but opportunities eluded him in what could have been a decorated first class career. Never the less, he never gave up on cricket and continued to play across multiple formats and divisions in Goa & Mumbai where he made his presence felt across all the Major MCA & corporate Tournaments. From Times Shield to Kanga League, Digvijay has represented many teams with exceptional performances and has even helped quite a few teams elevate and become the champions.
More recently, he played a crucial role in making the corporate team of Varun Shipping Champion in Times Shield. Digvijay has also represented teams like Mahindra and Mahindra, B Arun Kumar and Volkswagen at the corporate level. In Mumbai Club Cricket, Digvijay has played for top clubs like Cricket Club of India, Khar Gymkhana, Payyade, MIG, Parsee Gymkhana, Amar CC to name a few. In the 2019, season, Digvijay was also amongst the top wicket takers in F Division Kanga League scalping 36 wkts in 9 games.
Some of his most memorable performances in the last few years include a brilliant 7/24 vs Superstar Sports Club in the 2018 season of Kanga. In 2019 season, Digvijay took a match winning 6/25 vs Prabhu Jolly Cricketers, a 5/6 in 9.2 overs vs New Amrit CC followed by a record spell of 9/46 vs DPZ Matunga representing Amar CC in the same year.
It’s certainly a fulfilling journey for a simple boy who used to play cricket in Village and later moved to Bombay beginning his initial journey from Achrekar Cricket Academy. Digivjay who did BA in education started playing cricket from college level from Khalsa College while his first captain was Gurmeet Singh who gave him the first opportunity to play professional cricket. Often told by his friends and relatives in his early days that he would’nt be able to do anything in cricket , today Digvijay has created a name for himself as one of the hustlers of Mumbai Cricket with a never give up attitude. Digivijay has created a legacy and an impact for himself in the field of cricket which will help the coming generations as well.
In his peak playing days, Digvijay was a match winner for Goa Cricket Association. In one such incidents vs Hyderabad when Venkatpati Raju was batting on the crease & one wicket was required to win, Digvijay asked his captain Balkesh Niskin to bowl that over and he helped Goa win the Memorable match against Hyderabad . Digvijay was also in the Camp of Mumbai Ranji Trophy when he was called by none other than the legendary Balvinder Singh Sandhu.
In a career spanning almost 3 decades, Digvijay has played alongside the likes of Chandrkant Pandit, Amol Muzumdar, Wasim Jaffer, Vinod Kambli, Paras Mhambre, Kiran Powar, Sandip Patil, Ramesh Powar, Sairaj Bahutule, Jatin Paranjape to name a few. Digivjay gives full credit to his friend Anil Singh who took him to Achrekar sir’s academy, where things started taking shape up for him.
Digvijay is now into cricket coaching passing on his experience and wisdom to the young cricketers. Digvijay has also been an Assistant Coach in T20 Mumbai with Sobo Supersonics Team while one of his players Rasol Singh is currently playing for Mumbai U14. Digvijay is currently coaching with Goregaon Sports Club while he has also Coached in Nirmala College.
When asked Digvijay to share some tips, he had a simple no nonsense approach to share as he said “Work hard, stay grounded always listen to your coaches!
