Railways batter Ravi Singh is a boundary-hitter in Indian domestic cricket. In the most recent 20-overs Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, Ravi sent 33 of the 126 balls he faced to the fence or over it, meaning he hit a boundary every 3.81 balls. In the 50-overs Vijay Hazare Trophy, he was the second-highest six-hitter, with 22 across five innings.
His big-hitting triggered a mini bidding war between Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at the last IPL auction, in late 2025, with RR eventually scooping him up for INR 95 lakh. Ravi celebrated his 25th birthday as a Royal in the IPL, but injury curtailed his participation to just one game.
Fit again, Ravi is backing himself to cope with the demands of red-ball cricket.
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He has had an encouraging start to his Ranji Trophy career, scoring 291 runs in four games at an average of 58.20 and his left-handedness and wide range of strokes, which includes sweeps and scoops, could potentially disrupt Tamil Nadu's left-arm spinners in Railways' third-round clash at Chepauk. In the previous round against Rajasthan in Jaipur, Ravi's first-innings half-century helped Railways salvage one point.
"Now, the red-ball games are going on and around ten days later, it's the white-ball tournament [when the Ranji Trophy takes a break]. How quickly you can switch formats and adapt is what matters the most," Ravi said at Chepauk on Saturday. "We direct our practice towards making those specific adjustments."
Ravi, who can also keep wicket if needed, idolises KL Rahul and had an opportunity to catch up with him during IPL 2026. "I hope I can add Rahul's calmness to my game," Ravi said. "He remains very calm and normal on the field and off the field, he is always helping people. As far as his cricket is concerned, his batting is exceptional, I really love that."
Ravi hails from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh and moved to Lucknow in search of better cricketing facilities and opportunities. He, however, couldn't break into the Uttar Pradesh side, but still pursued his cricketing dream while working as an Eastern Railways ticket collector at Howrah Station, near Kolkata. Juggling cricket and the Railways job hasn't been easy, but Ravi kept at it and emerged as Railways' top run-getter in the both Vijay Hazare and Syed Mushtaq Ali competitions during the previous season.
Ravi has a strong sporting background. His grandfather Dal Singh was an Asiad-level wrestler while his father Prithviraj Singh played football for the Indian police team.
"After I moved to Lucknow, Saurabh Dubey bhaiya, [former Uttar Pradesh and Tripura player], supported me and helped my development as a player," Ravi said. "Whether I was off the field or on the field, he always took care of me and kept checking in on how things were going.
"When I got the opportunity to play for Railways, I did quite well in the Under-23 tournament and then got picked in the senior team. After the Vijay Hazare and Syed Mushtaq Ali [tournaments], I got called for IPL trials and after seven or eight years of not playing anything [significant], things suddenly started falling my way."
Ravi feels that mingling and training with international players at the RR nets has helped him deal with the task better. "When I first went into bat, the first ball [Jofra] Archer bowled to me [at the nets] was a bouncer, but I correctly anticipated he would bowl a fast bouncer and was ready for it," he said. "Being part of the RR camp, I think I was used to that [high] pace by the time I faced [Mitchell] Starc on IPL debut.
"I'm quite close to Dhruv Jurel and Yashasvi Jaiswal. Since they have been consistently playing high-level cricket, I try to understand how they deliver strong performances in tough conditions, so I will also know how to navigate them."
Ravi's immediate challenge is navigating R Sai Kishore and Co. on what is expected to be a turner at Chepauk.