All-rounder Nikhil Chaudhary adapted to demands of Oz cricket: First Indian in Australian men’s team

Indian-born cricketer Nikhil Chaudhary achieved a historic feat when he was selected in Australia’s T20I squad.(Photo/IANS) During this year’s IPL, 30-year-old Nikhil Chaudhary toured with Delhi Capitals as a bowler with an outside chance of being signed. He took a few days off to visit his family and childhood coach Charanjeet Bhanga in his hometown Ludhiana. He suddenly cut short his trip to India with a promise to his coach. “Sir, I have to join the Australian team camp. You will hear big news soon.”Chaudhary broke the big news to Bhangu on Thursday morning. He became the first Indian-born cricketer in six decades to be named in Australia’s international squad as the selectors chose him as a leg-spinner to join the T20I squad currently playing in Bangladesh. Born in Pune, Lisa Sthalekar has already led Australia in women’s cricket.The selection was the latest milestone in an amazing journey for the Delhi-born Chaudhary, who played for Punjab for three years. In 2020, he was visiting his uncle in Queensland when the world went into lockdown due to Covid19. Unable to return, Chaudhary played a few club matches in Brisbane as Australia eased restrictions. His talent was soon noticed. He hasn’t looked back since.In January 2017, Nikhil Chaudhary made his senior men’s T20 debut as a medium pacer in a Punjab team that had a bowling attack of former Indian cricketers Harbhajan Singh, Sidharth Kaul, Sandeep Sharma and Gurkeerat Mann. In March of that year, on his List A debut, he shared the dressing room with Yuvraj Singh. Indian pacemaker Arshdeep Singh’s contact is still in his phone book. But he has an international phone call to Australia with a permanent resident stamp in his passport.After representing Punjab in 14 ListA matches, Chaudhary was staring at an uncertain future. The Covid lockdown has actually turned into a blessing in disguise for him. “During those eight months, Nikhil played a few club matches in Brisbane. Soon people in the system started praising him. He called me and said he liked the culture because he was talking to immigrants. He said he wanted to stay back because the people who mattered appreciated his talent,” his childhood coach Charanjeet Bhangu told TOI.Chaudhary had to turn his game upside down to fit into it. “Overseas cricketers usually struggle against spin. Foreigners come to my academy to learn spin. But Nikhil has always been an all-rounder. When he first came to me at the age of 10, we made him bowl off-spin and bat. But there was strong competition for the off-spin spot, so when he grew up in Punjab-ace, when he grew up. But he would also bowl in the Punjab nets,” said Bhangu.Once Chaudhary decided to stay in Australia, he started doing odd jobs to earn money. He cut vegetables in a restaurant, drove taxis and even delivered parcels while trying to make it in cricket in Tasmania.“He was convinced he could do something remarkable in Australia. He always kept a good diet, but he was more than willing to adopt the country’s eating habits, such as a source of protein. Once the travel restrictions were completely lifted after two years, he came to me and spent two-and-a-half months working on his bat. In India, he was used to playing off the front foot.”Chaudhary’s big break came when Hobart Hurricanes picked him for the Big Bash League in 2023. “Nikhil was right about the sporting culture there. He made it to the BBL in just three years,” said the proud coach. Chaudhary made an immediate impact in the BBL by winning the game with the bat and hitting Pakistan pacer Haris Rauf out of the park. His first-class debut came last season and he took five wickets on debut against Queensland in addition to saving the match for Tasmania with the bat.“The panel were impressed with his BBL form, especially last season, which led to his addition to the squad,” said cricket selector Tony Dodemaide. com. ouch “He will be fighting to play his first match for Australia when we sit down to pick the squad for the opening T20 match next week,” he added.

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According to cricket. com. aw, Australia has several players of Indian origin in international cricket, including Gurinder Sandhu and Tanveer Sangha, but not since the 1960s (when Rex Sellars, a Gujarat-born netballer, featured in the 1964 Calcutta Test) has an Indian-born man played for the national side.