A glance at the wall of commemorative inscriptions in Brian Johnston Memorial Theatre at Lord's will reveal the names of some great bowlers who had left an indelible mark at the famous venue.

Scroll your eyes down the list, it reads: Rudra Pratap Singh, India, 5-59, 2007. The Uttar Pradesh lad was constantly distracted by those letters while attending a press-do.

Singh has a long way to traverse before matching the deeds of those past masters. But his enthusiasm was quite justified as it was his first five-wicket haul in Test cricket and the last visiting bowler to grab a five-for at Lord's was a certain G D McGrath two years ago. South Africa's Makhaya Ntini achieved that feat in 2003 before the Australian, so it is certainly not a bad company for the Indian youngster to be in.

"It is really a nice feeling to get five wickets in a Test match and it is all the more special to achieve that at Lord's. It is every bowler's dream," Singh observed.

But the 21-year old, who is blessed with loads of talent and mature far beyond his age, was earmarked for great things when he first entered the international arena nearly two years ago. He was one of the young pace bowlers whom the then coach Greg Chappell had placed a lot of faith on and hoped would carry the Indian attack into a new era.

Playing vital role
The left-arm paceman did not disappoint in the initial part either, and had played a vital role in India notching up that record 18 straight one-day wins while chasing. He also came up with a determined performance on his debut on a barren track at Faisalabad against Pakistan that earned him the man of the match award.

But Singh faded away soon after following string of modest performances which forced him to miss last year's Champions Trophy and the World Cup. But he did not brood over the disappointments and polished his skills while playing for Leicestershire in the English county.

"My stint with Leicestershire was very useful. Though I had played just three matches with them, it really helped me to learn some new things about swing bowling and some practical knowledge about English conditions," Singh noted.

His revival came during India's tour Bangladesh in May. He took six wickets in the two-Test series and his rhythm was more impressive than the number of wickets he took.

Primed for battle
Subsequently, when he was picked for the England tour, Singh was ready — mentally and physically. More importantly, he already had a feel of the English conditions, which was evident during England's second innings.
Singh varied his length to suit the conditions. He also used the Lord's slope to optimum effect in the second innings. Singh constantly bowled in the good length area and made the ball jag back into Michael Vaughan, something the England captain is not exactly fond of.

The Yorkshire batsman soon fell into the trap, pulling at an incoming delivery only to drag the ball on to his stumps. When Paul Collingwood came to the crease, the paceman peppered him with short deliveries, and earned his rewards soon. He forced Collingwood to duck with a climbing delivery, but the English batsman could not avoid nicking behind to VVS Laxman at slips.

The animated celebration after every wicket, stemmed more out of his youthful exuberance, also manifested his never-say-die attitude and a willingness to work uncompromisingly to accomplish his targets.

"Both the dismissals were well planned. But the wicket of Vaughan gave me a lot of satisfaction. Not just because it was a big wicket, but it came at the right time and helped the team to stall England's progress. Otherwise, they might have gone on to score an even bigger total," he said.

The performance earned him a deserving pat from none other than Kevin Pietersen. "RP is a fantastic swing bowler with a great deal of talent. He bowled well under the conditions and I enjoyed the challenge of batting against him," Pietersen said. Compliments do not come bigger than that, isn't it? Rest assured, this will not be the last time in this series they will face each other and that should provide for some thrilling moments.

Indian skipper Rahul Dravid too was quick to acknowledge Singh's feat. "RP is a young bowler with lot of talent and he has been improving. Along with (Dinesh) Kaarthick and Wasim Jaffer, he has done good work in the first Test. Hopefully, they can recreate the performance in the second Test as well," he said.

The onus, now, is on Singh to live up to the expectations and if his performance in the first Test can be taken as an indicator, it is unlikely that he will disappoint either.