Singh cousin brothers - Anmolpreet and Prabhsimran - from Patiala, Punjab could have easily been lost to handball had they given in to what former's father Satvinder felt they should do and never make it big during the recently concluded 2019 Indian Premier League(IPL) auction in Jaipur.
Satvinder Singh, a former Indian handball player, wanted the family's gen-next to follow in his footsteps and see son Anmolpreet, as well as nephew Prabhsimran, play his beloved sport.
The old man would, in fact, get furious whenever he saw the duo indulge with the beautiful game of cricket as he also made a failed attempt in ensuring that another brother Tejpreet doesn't go down that route.
"There were a couple of handball goal posts in our backyard, but they have long been replaced by cricket nets. I never liked cricket as a sport," Satvinder told TOI on Wednesday, December 19, "But destiny has something else in the store."
"What can I say? We are a very proud family. Ab to teesra (Tejpreet Singh) bhi cricket mein achha kar Raha hai (Now the third one too is doing well in cricket)."
Tejpreet is just 17 and bowls leg-spin for Punjab U-19s.
While wicketkeeper-batsman Prabhsimran (18) was bought for Rs 4.8 crore by Kings XI Punjab(KXIP), Anmolpreet, the 20-year-old right-hand batsman, got roped in by Mumbai Indians(MI) for Rs 80 lakh.
"We all were glued to the television set. I was confident that bhaiya (Anmolpreet) will get a contract. But I had never imagined that I would get into any of the franchises with such a hefty price tag," young Prabhsimran himself revealed, "When Anmol was picked by Mumbai Indians, we started celebrating with mithai (sweets), but once Prabhsimran's bidding started, we just went mad."
"The entire family was doing the bhangra. Our neighbors were dancing in front of our house. The celebrations went on till midnight."
Anmolpreet is delighted to have been rewarded for his exploits in the domestic circuit so far but he selflessly talked about his cousin and even termed him a special talent, as he said, "He(Prabhsimran) is a clean striker of the ball. In our school days, we gave such nightmares to the other teams. We were playing an inter-school tournament in Patiala and in one match one of our oppositions didn't take the field."
"Their coach said they didn't want to get embarrassed as the opposition bowlers were terrified. I was expecting this question(that the younger brother went for a bigger prize), but let me tell you one thing, saare paise Ghar aa rahe hai (all the money is coming home)."
(Inputs from Cricbuzz)
