An exclusive interview with Harmeet Singh: From India U19 to USA, Admiration for Yuvraj Singh, IPL stint with Rajasthan Royals

Harmeet Singh, a former India U19 World Cup champion, has charted an extraordinary path in cricket, now representing the USA on the global stage. Born and raised in Mumbai, Harmeet’s journey began with a passion for football, later transitioning to cricket when a summer camp unveiled his talent. His early days were marked by record-breaking performances in school cricket alongside stars like Rohit Sharma, and guidance from legendary coach Padmakar Shivalkar. Harmeet fondly recalls these formative years as the foundation of his cricketing dreams.

In an exclusive chat with Cricket Times, Harmeet has revealed how he faced numerous challenges for USA, from adapting to an emerging cricketing infrastructure to balancing family life amidst a hectic schedule. Yet, his determination bore fruit, highlighted by his team’s stunning victory over Pakistan in the 2024 T20 World Cup. Reflecting on his IPL stint with Rajasthan Royals and maintaining connections with his U19 teammates, Harmeet continues to inspire with his resilience and vision for USA cricket’s growth

Here are some highlights from the interview:

Q: How did your cricket journey begin?

Harmeet: Just like any other uh kid in India. I used to play football in my school, I was in St Joseph’s Orlem, Malad and then grew up till fifth grade playing football but then I was also playing cricket in my building and apartments with friends and all of that so there was a summer camp which my dad put me into close to our house so I went there. I like the sport and when you play with the actual cricket ball it’s different and the coaches also said that you do have talent so you should pursue the sport and then without you know thinking twice I did start playing cricket and also changed my school to Swami Vivekananda, Borivali where Rohit (Rohit Sharma) also studied and cricket was their major sport and then we went on to break Harris Shield records that is where Dilip Sardesai sir spotted me and at Bombay Jimkhana, so that’s how I started.

Q: Who were your idols while growing up?

Harmeet: First was my coach Padmakar Shivalkar sir and for me the way he picked 600 first class wickets and couldn’t make an international debut that speaks a lot about his class and his perseverance where he never gave up and pursued his career so that’s a very good example and then again I used to watch a lot of Yuvraj Singh, Sourav Ganguly growing up because you know left-handed so yeah like on screen I used to love watching Yuvraj and Sourav.

Q: What challenges did you face after moving to the USA?

Harmeet: In the USA it wasn’t easy because when I came here there was nothing as in what we see now Major League, Minor League the domestic setup USA Cricket doing well and you know the contracts and all of that it wasn’t there so and also infrastructure, the stadium in Dallas that was not there but we were told that this will all come in 3-4 years whatever 2, 3, 4 years and again I took a bet and when I went there during COVID there was no first class season in India so that year 2020 so I was like I’ll just meanwhile doing nothing I rather go there and you know check things out whatever it is and then uh I liked Seattle so uh so I signed the contract there they did my Visa and everything and and then I moved there with my family.

A lot of challenges, I had my kids here so it wasn’t easy for wife also to you know take care because I was always either traveling playing coaching working so and again she opted not to work because the kids were small so all of that and then now we moved to Houston so that I travel less when I’m domestic and now I’m playing International franchise cricket a lot so it’s tough for the family. This is the life I always wanted as a cricketer so again no complaints but you know you have to you every stage you are in in life you will always have a little bit of challenges but again you have to embrace them and find a solution out of it.

Also READ: An Exclusive Interview with USA rising star Anika Kolan: Role models, U19 leadership, all-time favourite cricketers

Q: How did it feel to defeat Pakistan in the T20 World Cup 2024?

Harmeet: I think since the time we won that game and not only we won the game but then also we went on to give a really tough game to India and South Africa so we moved a lot of pieces there in the world cup and a lot of people were shocked to see the talent we possess. But if you see after the World Cup uh there are a lot of our USA players who have been starting to get a lot of franchise attention so what I feel is you know franchise Cricket what it does is you rub shoulders against the best with the best in your in and around and you know then you make a name for yourself and that only helps you to do better.

Also just like how Afghanistan have grown from strength to strength and their guys are now trusted as one of the best franchise cricketers so wherever you go if it’s an Afghani player they’ll pick him right away so I think that’s the name we want to get and and we are getting towards it we are like there are uh a few guys who are getting consistent opportunities there are few guys on and off in uh franchise Cricket so I think it’ll only grow from here and you know how it is evolving uh it is really exciting and you know it is just now we have like a one proper Stadium or maybe two proper stadiums but in years to come if we have very good infrastructure you know uh a national Center like Australia or any test playing Nation uh to train the fast Bowlers and all everything so I think why not we will have everything then.

Q: Are you still in touch with your U19 teammates?

Harmeet: Yeah, on and off we do talk Vihari (Hanuma Vihari) did text in between he wanted me to help one of the Hyderabad players to get to US and so yeah he’s always been nice and Sandeep (Sandeep Sharma) here and there and then Kamal Paasi is a good friend from the World Cup and then. And even Mandeep Singh is a good friend I played 2010 World Cup also so yeah Sanju (Sanju Samson) I met in the World Cup, Kuldeep (Kuldeep Yadav) also I played with a lot of cricket, Chahal (Yuzvendra Chahal) and all of these guys so Axar (Axar Patel) was there in the under 19 India team when we went for Asia cup I think one of the tours I think so yeah at that time all of us were at the same level and together playing and now at least I’m happy that all three of them are playing for India so that’s very good.

Q: You were part of Rajasthan Royals in IPL. Tell us about that experience?

Harmeet: it was one of the finest and also became one of the scariest later when all the fixing things happened but finest in the sense that I got to share the dressing room with Rahul Dravid, Shane Watson and Ajinkya Rahane and all of the stalwarts of world cricket. Brad Hodge was there, one of the finest franchise cricket player or finest team T20 player so all of those experiences which I took from there, I’m still trying to use it in in my career. I wish I could get more opportunities in the IPL but only got one game so again I wouldn’t say I failed there but if there was sufficient opportunities and I failed it was fine but I just wish there were more opportunities with white ball cricket in India.