After Australia debut in T20Is, Nikhil Chaudhary sets sights on push for ODI World Cup

It was 5pm and the youngsters on the Cricket Galaxy academy in Ludhiana, Punjab, about 100km from Chandigarh, have been buzzing. The explanation? Nikhil Chaudhary, an alumnus, was again for the primary time since his T20I debut. That the debut got here for Australia, and never India, solely added to the thrill.

With broad shoulders, tattooed forearms, and Dolce & Gabbana goggles, Chaudhary has an imposing presence. However as soon as he eliminated his goggles to greet his childhood coach, Charanjit Bhangu, his heat smile made his jetlagged eyes gentle up. After that, he shook palms with all the youngsters and signed their bats earlier than interacting with the media.

Chaudhary had landed in India that very morning, and his busy day was simply an extension of his busy life since his debut in Bangladesh in June. Later that month, he was in America for MLC. July took him to England for the Hundred and August to the Caribbean for a brief CPL stint with St Kitts and Nevis Patriots. He would spend “three-four days” in India earlier than flying to Australia – solely to return in October with a touring Australia A side.

Chaudhary, 30, is a middle-order batter who can even bowl useful legspin. Like each child who picks up cricket, he too grew up eager to characterize his nation. However life had other plans. In 2020, he received caught in Australia due to Covid and began pursuing the game there.

Requested the way it feels enjoying for one more nation, Chaudhary’s response is way more sensible now. “It does not actually matter to me as a result of I simply needed to play cricket,” he advised Cricinfo. “For those who see, most gamers by no means get to characterize their nation. They end their careers enjoying home cricket. Some transfer to a different nation to play membership cricket. So, for those who love cricket, you simply wish to play cricket; it does not matter for whom.”

Chaudhary’s subsequent aim is to play ODI cricket for Australia, and he took a step in direction of that on Tuesday when he was named within the Australia A squad for 3 one-dayers in India subsequent month. Nonetheless, fellow spin-bowling allrounder Joel Davies, who made his T20I debut alongside Chaudhary, will get a chance first with the total facet in Zimbabwe and South Africa.

“I wish to play 50-over cricket and, if I get an opportunity, Exams too,” he stated. “My first goal is the 2027 ODI World Cup, after which the T20 World Cup the next yr. I wish to characterize Australia for so long as I can.”

When he received stranded in Australia, he had performed simply two Checklist A video games and 12 T20s for Punjab. Three years later, he was enjoying for Hobart Hurricanes within the BBL, and one other two years after that, he was making his first-class debut, for Tasmania. Thought of extra of a white-ball specialist again dwelling, Chaudhary scored 76 not out off 80 balls and took a five-for in his very first outing within the Sheffield Protect, and completed the season with 393 runs at 32.75 with a best of 163.

With the 2026-27 One-Day Cup beginning later this month, Chaudhary is eager to construct on these beneficial properties by following a easy method.

“My plan has at all times been the identical: work exhausting, give your finest, and attempt to make your crew win,” he stated. “No matter alternative you get, you attempt to carry out.”

Chaudhary was fast to confess that none of this could have been attainable with out Bhangu. “My coach has performed an enormous function in my profession. Similar to one has dad and mom in life, he is sort of a mother or father to me in cricket,” he stated. “I used to be round 13 after I first met him. He taught me not solely cricket but in addition tips on how to dwell life as knowledgeable cricketer. That helped me so much.”

Bhangu, too, treats Chaudhary like his son. “As a coach, your largest dream is that your pupil performs at worldwide degree,” he stated. “Nikhil adopted my recommendation proper from the beginning and has now made me proud.

“Now my dream is that my different pupil, Nehal Wadhera, additionally performs for India, and in the future, he and Nikhil face off in opposition to one another and I am going to the stadium sporting a jersey that’s half-Indian, half-Australian.”

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