Robin Singh
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A profile
Source: Sportskeeda, Jul 9 2015
Suromitro Basu
Ever since Robin Singh began his professional football career with East Bengal, his name has become synonymous with the sport in India. He has been an integral part of both Wim Koevarmans and Stephen Constatntine’s national team plans. Having played in India’s recent World Cup qualifying loss to Guam, Singh thinks judging India’s performance based on a solitary game is unjustified.
“Would you judge any team’s performances by just one result? If you take a look at the current age of the team, I am the second oldest. It’s a team in transition and we will soon perform. The country needs to be more supportive, change will come,” he added.
The past few years has seen Singh experience a green patch in his career. Apart from the national team call-up and the I-league title, he has been consistently playing continental club football with both Bengaluru FC and East Bengal. Training with a UAE Pro League club has seen him develop an aerial ability, which has tormented every defensive line in the country. Now, his skills will be tested in Indian football’s marquee event, the ISL.
“Fitness is my strongest asset and I personally feel the ISL grind requires it. Every player who participates in the tournament is of the highest quality.”
When asked about his interests over joining a particular franchise, Singh said, “I will be grateful to any franchise that thinks I’m worthy enough to join their team, but I really want to work with Roberto Carlos, who can forget that free-kick?”
Indian Captain Sunil Chhetri is the most expensive player in the draft priced at Rs 80 lakhs. Singh himself will be commanding a price of Rs 40 Lakhs. The price tag will definitely see a lot of takers for the country’s number two striker at the moment.
The draft will see a total of 123 players will be part of both the auction and the draft, with eight franchises fighting it out for their signature. Only 40 of these players will go home with a contract and the chance to capture the country’s imagination.
However, it is important to be noted that only 10 Indian players will be a part of the auction, which is a separate entity.
Singh himself is optimistic about 2015, “Every season I keep a target of scoring 10 goals, now this season I am aiming for 15 with a host of goals in the ISL. Fingers crossed.”
From the streets of Noida to the Indian national team, Robin Singh’s career has seen an upward growth trajectory so far. With the ISL, I-league, World Cup qualifiers and AFC Cup all scheduled this year, Singh is definitely going to play a key role in Indian football’s rise from relative obscurity.
July 2015
Jul 11 2015
INGLORIOUS UNCERTAINTIES OF INDIAN SPORTS - With ISL bids, footballers turn crorepatis overnight
Marcus Mergulhao
India may be ranked a poor 156th in the world, but its footballers have never had it so good. Following the IPL-style player auction for the second edition of the Indian Super League, a handful of footballer crorepatis has emerged overnight.
Robin Singh, who was successfully bid for by Delhi Dynamos for Rs 51 lakh, is in addition guaranteed Rs 35 lakh from Bengaluru FC. Meanwhile, Thoi Singh, son of a retired policeman, will pocket an additional Rs 20 lakh after the ISL. It is understood that the I-League runners up will pay others approximately their base price at the auction. “It has been agreed that all of them will return to Ben galuru FC,“ a source told TOI Despite his bidding ending at Rs 1.2 crore, Mumbai City will only pay Chhetri's base price of Rs 80 lakh. Ac cording to Chhetri's contract, he is guar anteed of Rs 1.55 crore for the season with Bengaluru FC contributing Rs 75 lakh. Mumbai would have had to pay any additional amount only if the bid had crossed Rs 1.55 crore.
Only Chhetri had so far commanded such fees, getting well over a crore from Bengaluru for the past two seasons. He is now joined by domestic footballers who struck it rich at the ISL auctions. Mizo footballer Eugeneson Lyngdoh (Rs 1.04 crore), Manipur's Thoi Singh (Rs 86 lakh) and Rino Anto (Rs 90 lakh) of Kerala too made the select club, being guaranteed a season's income of over Rs 1 crore following a loan agreement with their parent I-League clubs. Bengaluru FC's players accounted for a total of Rs 4.5 crore at the auction.
