Shiva Singh is an Indian professional cricketer who was a part of the Indian squad that won the 2018 edition of the ICC (International Cricket Council) Under-19 Cricket World Cup. It was the country’s 4th such title, making it the most successful team in the competition’s history – Australia and India were tied at 3 titles each before this tournament. Shiva played all 6 of India’s matches in this tournament and even though he did not bag any dismissals in the first 4 of those matches, he scalped 2 wickets in India’s massive 203-run win over Pakistan in the semi-final. He also picked up 2 wickets in India’s 8-wicket demolition of Australia in the final. In the Indian domestic circuit, he has turned out for his home state of Uttar Pradesh (2018-19-Present) across all 3 formats.
Born Name
Shiva Singh
Nick Name
Shiva
Shiva Singh as seen in an Instagram Post in December 2018 (Sportstar / Instagram)
Sun Sign
Libra
Born Place
Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, India
Residence
Uttar Pradesh, India
Nationality
Occupation
Professional Cricketer
Shiva Singh as seen in an Instagram Post in January 2018 (The Week / Instagram)
Family
Father – Ajit Singh (Businessman, Former Cricketer)
Batting
Right-Handed
Bowling
Slow Left-Arm Orthodox
Role
Bowler
Build
Athletic
Height
5 ft 9 in or 175 cm
Weight
65 kg or 143.5 lbs
Shiva Singh as seen in an Instagram Post in November 2020 (Dainik Jagran / Instagram)
Race / Ethnicity
Asian (Indian)
Hair Color
Black
Eye Color
Dark Brown
Sexual Orientation
Straight
Distinctive Features
Toned physique
Side-parted, wavy hair
Affable smile
Sports a thick beard
Shiva Singh as seen in an Instagram Post in May 2019 (Sports Tak / Instagram)
Shiva Singh Facts
In November 2018, Shiva made it to the headlines all over the cricketing world when he approached the bowling crease and spun through 360 degrees in his run-up, just before delivering the ball, in an under-23 match in India. Although many fans and experts felt that it was an interesting addition to the sport, the umpire in that match did not agree and called it a ‘dead ball’. It meant that the delivery was not legal and Shiva would have to bowl it again.
The match even came to a brief halt when the umpire who called the ‘dead ball’ went to the other standing umpire in that match and discussed the matter with him. Therafter, Shiva was told that if he repeated this bowling action, the umpires would be forced to continue deeming those balls as ‘dead’. The umpires later clarified to the media that according to their understanding of the laws of the game, Shiva’s bowling action was a deliberate attempt at distracting the striking batter and such a delivery could not be counted as legal.
The fact that Shiva was not allowed to continue bowling with this action did not affect the result of this game. Uttar Pradesh defeated Bengal by an inning inside 3 days. He also took 4 wickets in this match. Shiva later claimed that he had tried this 360-degree style of bowling just a month ago, during the Vijay Hazare Trophy (the premier domestic one-day cricket competition in India), and was not pulled up by the umpires on that occasion.
In November 2022, Shiva created an unwanted record that would likely require the greatest of all miracles to be surpassed in the future. In a quarter-final match of the Vijay Hazare Trophy, while representing Uttar Pradesh against Maharashtra, he was taken down by Ruturaj Gaikwad for a world record 43 runs in an over. The 5th delivery of that over was declared a ‘no-ball’ (an illegal delivery that has to be re-bowled, it also adds a run to the batting team’s overall score) which meant that the over consisted of 7 deliveries instead of the usual 6.
All 7 of those deliveries were hit for a six, a feat never before achieved in a professional cricket match. Ruturaj hammered 220 runs off 159 balls in this match – including 16 sixes and 10 fours. He was batting on 165 runs off 147 balls when this fateful over started. By the end of this over, his score was 207 runs off 154 balls.
