Ten-year-old cricket sensation joins father in senior grade

A FATHER and son combination are turning heads in Far North Coast cricket this season with 10-year-old Virat Singh joining the Ballina Bears senior second grade team.

The talented youngster started as a fill-in and is now playing alongside his father Ravi.

They are believed to be the youngest in the competitions history and one of the only father-son combinations this season.

“I thought it might have been a bit early for him to come up to second grade, but the players wanted him in the team after he filled in a few times,” Ravi said.

“It’s come very early; I thought we might have eventually played third grade together in a few years.

“He loves his cricket, he’s still playing under-14s in the morning, too.

“It’s been great to be able to do something like this together. The club has been great and players from other teams have been really good to him as well.”

Virat, who Ravi said is named after Indian cricket legend Virat Kohli, will be one to watch in the coming years.

Virat is welcomed by Bears second grade players when he made his debut this season. Photo: SUPPLIED

He attends Richmond Christian College and has already been part of under-12 state school cricket trials in Sydney this month.

He also plays academy and local representative cricket where he opens the batting and bowls leg spin.

Ravi, 36, has been a handy all-rounder for Bears, having played top grade in the LJ Hooker League most years since 2017.

The club now plays in second grade, with Virat getting to play in a team where about half the players have been in the top grade at some point.

“We both love it; I’ve even been working on getting his younger sister into the game, too” Ravi said.

“I haven’t quite got there yet, but she enjoys bowling to him at home.”

Ravi comes from Punjab in the north of India and has been in Australia for more than 15 years.

He settled at Ballina, and since 2012, he and his wife have run Farm Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Asian Grocery.

He has been described as a loveable character and one of the cricket clubs most dedicated players who worked his way up from the lower grades and into its top side.