RP Singh: Not just infrastructure, Noida also has a sporting culture

Over the past year, Noida has seen many sports stars visiting the city, including former Pakistani cricketer Inzamam-ul- Haq, football star Sunil Chhetri and NBA players Seth Curry and Robin Lopez. A recent entrant in the list is former Indian fast bowler RP Singh. The Rae Bareli-born cricketer, who has played 82 internationals for India and currently plays for Gujarat in the domestic circuit, was in Noida recently to open his cricket academy at the Greater Noida stadium.He spoke to us about his days as a Noida resident, why he chose the city for his academy and about his conviction that Noida will produce an international cricketer soon.
Singh’s association with the city dates back to 2009, when he purchased a house in Greater Noida’s Gamma sector. “I lived in Noida for over a year around 2009-10. Since I was mostly training or travelling for the matches, I didn’t get to see a lot of the city.”
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“Noida is a modern city, with wide roads and great infrastructure. The connectivity to Delhi is also good, which is why I came here. It’s a very different city now, more populated than it was in those days. The people are nice here and that’s something which hasn’t changed fortunately,” Singh says.
Like every sportsperson who visits Noida, Singh is all praise for the sporting infrastructure of the city. He says, “The infrastructure is amazing here, almost international standard. I’m a player, so I know how important it is to give the best facilities to budding players – something Noida and Greater Noida are doing efficiently.”
Talking about why he chose the city for his cricket academy, he says, “It’s important that the city has two things – a culture of sports, and accessibility. And Noida has both. Aur phir talent toh poore desh mein hi hai. Uski koi kami nahin. The Greater Noida Authority has a good space here in the ground and I felt it can be utilised well. Here, the coaches are good, facilities are top-class and I felt it is important to take the game to centres, that haven’t had the kind of exposure that bigger cities have.”
However, despite the infrastructure, Noida has lagged behind its neighbours like Meerut and Ghaziabad in producing international sportspersons. Singh says, “It’s a city of migrants, so people move here from other places and they retain their ties to those places. So you might have international players living here, but they would say they are from Ghaziabad or Meerut.” He does believe that the day is not far when a Noida cricketer will play for Team India. He says, “Ab toh facilities achhi ho rahi hain, just give the kids of Noida some time. Jab main Rae Bareli se nikal kar international cricket khel sakta hoon, toh Noida ke bachche kyun nahin kar sakte?”