Six years ago, a fast bowler’s nickname was enough to get Robin Singh’s attention. Singh, the coach at the GenNext Cricket Academy in Patna, had asked his fast bowler nephew for recommendations. “My nephew told me Sakib’s nickname on the tennis-ball cricket circuit was ‘Rabada’ because he was fast. I am most excited to coach fast bowlers. I asked my nephew to ask him to come to Patna. With the leather ball Sakib was not accurate, but he had potential. He was nippy off the wicket. For most fast bowlers, after the ball pitches it loses pace. Sakib’s loss was minimal,” Singh tells The Indian Express about his first impressions of a 15-year-old Sakib. On his IPL debut, Sakib Hussain, now 21, took 4 for 24 for Sunrisers Hyderabad against Rajasthan Royals in Hyderabad on Monday. Fellow debutant Praful Hinge took 4 for 34. Between them, two men nobody had heard of dismantled Rajasthan Royals on the same evening. From tennis-ball specialist to CSK net bowler to KKR bench to SRH colours — Sakib’s journey had taken the long route. Modest background His father farmed and fixed roof sheets as a casual labourer. Cash prizes from tennis-ball tournaments were a blessing the family counted on. In a video posted by KKR, his mother Subuktara Khatoon spoke of selling her jewellery to buy him bowling spikes. In a StarSports video, Sakib himself put it plainly: “If I bought shoes how could we eat.” Singh had wanted Sakib to move to Patna for coaching, but the boy couldn’t afford to stay away from home. “I offered him free coaching but he declined,” Singh recalled. Sunrisers Hyderabad’s captain Ishan Kishan takes the catch to dismiss Rajasthan Rajasthan Royals’ Ravi Bishnoi as Sakib Hussain celebrates during the Indian Premier League cricket match between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rajasthan Royals in Hyderabad, India, Monday, April 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.) Months later, the president of the Gopalganj Cricket Association, the late Tunna Giri, asked Singh to open a GenNext Academy branch in the district. It was Giri who had first spotted Sakib — not at a cricket ground but at the Minz ground, where Sakib was training for the army’s physical test and Giri came for his morning walks.Story continues below this ad “They provided me land for the academy in Gopalganj. Sakib agreed to be a regular. I told him to stop playing tennis-ball cricket because it results in injuries. I feel it was God’s will — the academy came up in Gopalganj for Sakib,” Singh said. No spikes Sakib’s big break came at the Bihar Cricket League. The owner of Gaya Gladiators, Ashok Kumar, reached out to Singh asking about talented players. Kumar was reluctant to take a chance on someone without district or league cricket experience. Singh was not moved. “I told him, ‘trust me. If Sakib does not perform, I will stop coming to the ground for coaching.’ When he heard that, Kumar agreed,” Singh said. Sakib tried to wriggle out of the trial in Patna — there was a tennis-ball match he wanted to play. Singh put his foot down. “Bahut daat kayega (You will be heavily scolded). One of the boys gave him the train fare, another dropped him at the station. The first ball he bowled was so quick that Kumar told me ‘solid player hai’. He didn’t have spikes so he slipped and fell after bowling that ball. But they were impressed,” Singh said.Story continues below this ad BCL coaches were astonished when Sakib dismissed two batsmen with Ranji Trophy experience without conceding a run in a six-over trial match. He went on to represent Bihar in the Cooch Behar Trophy and the Vinoo Mankad Trophy, earned a call to the NCA high performance camp and the MRF Pace Foundation, and eventually found his way to the IPL. Bumrah comparison On his debut, three of his four wickets came with his slower ball. Singh, who also commentates in Bhojpuri for the IPL, explains why it is difficult to pick. Jasprit Bumrah in action. (FILE photo) “His slower ball is difficult to pick because of his quick arm speed. He bowls fast from a very short distance. His run-up is like Bumrah. To figure out his pace is very difficult — like Bumrah, because he generates a lot of pace with his bowling action. Suddenly the ball is upon the batsman. He’s very nippy as he flicks his wrist, which gives a lot of whip to the ball and makes it travel fast even after pitching,” Singh said. The Bumrah comparison is a high bar. But the Rabada of Gopalganj, on the evidence of Monday night, is on the right track.
‘If I bought shoes how could we eat’: How Sakib Hussain, the ‘Rabada of Gopalganj’, went from tennis-ball cricket to a four-wicket IPL debut
