During this year’s IPL, the 30-year-old… Nikhil Chaudhary Traveling as a net bowler with Delhi Capitals, there was an outside chance of signing him. He took a few days off to visit his family and childhood coach Chiranjit Bhangu in his hometown Ludhiana. Suddenly, he cut short his India tour, promising his coach. “Sir, I have to join the Australian team camp. You will have some big news soon.”Chaudhary broke the big news to Bhangu on Thursday morning. He became the first Indian-origin male cricketer in six decades to be named in Australia’s international team as the selectors selected him as a leg-spinning all-rounder for the T20I team, which is currently playing in Bangladesh. Pune-born Lisa Stalker 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. Soon, his talent was noticed. He never looked back after that.In January 2017, Nikhil Chaudhary made his senior men’s T20 debut as a medium pacer in a Punjab team that featured a bowling attack of former India cricketers Harbhajan Singh, Siddharth Kaul, Sandeep Sharma and Gurkeerat Mann. In March of the same year, on his List A debut, he shared a dressing room with Yuvraj Singh. Indian left-arm fast bowler Arsdeep Singh’s contact is still in his phone book. But he received his international call-up to Australia with a permanent residence stamp in his passport.After representing Punjab in 14 List A matches, Chaudhary was looking at an uncertain future. The Covid lockdown actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise. “In those eight months, Nikhil played a few club matches in Brisbane. Soon people in the system started appreciating him. He called me and said he was liking the culture because he had talked with the expats. He said he wanted to stay back because important people appreciated his talent,” his childhood coach Chiranjeet Bhangu told TOI.Chowdhury had to change his game from within to fit in. “Overseas cricketers usually struggle against spin. Foreigners come to my academy to learn spin. But Nikhil was always versatile. When he first came to me as a 10-year-old, we got him off-spin and batting. But there was tough competition for off-spinners, so in Punjab he replaced the older bowlers. Medium in-swingers but he would also bowl leg-spin in the Punjab nets,” said Bhangu.Once Chowdhury decided to stay back in Australia, he started doing odd jobs to make ends meet. He chopped vegetables in a restaurant, drove taxis and even delivered parcels as he tried to make his mark in cricket in Tasmania.“He believed he could do something remarkable in Australia. He always maintained a good diet but was more willing to adapt to the country’s eating habits, as a source of protein intake. Once the travel restrictions were completely lifted two years later, he came to me and worked on his batting for two and a half months. In India he was used to playing more from the front foot. Since then, he mainly comes to me to work on his batting,” said the proud coach.Chaudhary’s big break came when the Hobart Hurricanes selected him for the Big Bash League in 2023. “Nikhil was right about the sports culture there. He made it to the BBL in just three years,” said the Fakhria coach. Choudhary made an immediate impact in the BBL by winning a game with the bat, knocking Pakistan pacer Haris Rauf out of the park. His first-class debut came last season and he took five wickets on debut against Queensland as well as saving the match with the bat for Tamania.“The panel has been impressed with his BBL form, particularly last season, which led to his inclusion in the squad,” selector Tony Dodemide was quoted as saying by Cricket. com. “When we sit down to pick the team for the opening T20 match here next week, he will take the field to play his first match for Australia,” Ochs added.
What do you think about Nikhil Chaudhary’s selection in Australia’s T20I squad?
According to cricket. com. au, Australia has had several Indian-origin players in international cricket, including Gurvinder Sindhu and Tanveer Singha, but not since the 1960s (when Rex Sellers, a Gujarat-born leg-spinner, featured in the 1964 Calcutta Test) has an Indian-origin man played for the national team.
