Delhi-born Indian cricketer, who was once a teammate of Shubman Gill, has scripted history with an iconic century in the ongoing Sheffield Shield. He has become the first player of Indian origin to score a first-class century in the Sheffield Shield in this century.
There have not been too many instances where Indian cricketers have played in some other part of the globe; however, sometimes such incidents have taken place. Like Unmukt Chand, the former Team India U-19 skipper, moved to the USA to play cricket.
Similarly, here is another player of Indian origin who moved to Australia after having played domestic cricket in India. These cricketers are not of Indian origin or Australian-born or USA-born cricketers; they are India-born players.
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Nikhil Chaudhary scripts a unique record for India
While India struggled to hold onto their Test inning against South Africa at their own home, and struggled facing the South African pacer Marco Jansen. First with the bat and then with the ball, Jansen has single-handedly destroyed India in the Guwahati Test.
However, miles apart from India, a former Punjab-based cricketer scripted history with an iconic hundred on Australian soil. This marked his maiden first-class century for Tasmania during the ongoing Sheffield Shield contest against New South Wales.
Nikhil Chaudhary became the first Indian to have breached the triple-figure mark as the all-rounder scored a blazing 163 for the Tigers, before Tasmania declared their innings on 623, the second-highest in the history of the Sheffield Shield.
Shubman Gill’s former teammate represented Punjab in one-day cricket
The day marked Caleb Jewell, setting the tone for a huge innings with a hundred first up. He who laid the foundation was then dismissed, and later Tim Ward and Nikhil Chaudhary, the two players, built a stunning empire.
Both the Tasmania Tigers batters, Ward and Nikhil Chaudhary, went on to score respective hundreds. Sam Konstas and Ryan Hicks then negotiated a tricky five-over period before stumps were announced for New South Wales.
Born in Delhi, Nikhil first represented Punjab and then moved to Australia in 2020. He has also played alongside the likes of Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma, and Arshdeep Singh for the team of Punjab.
Stuck during the COVID-19 pandemic, he decided to stay in the country and became a permanent resident. Not being able to keep his cricket dreams alive, he took up several odd jobs like cutting meat, delivering parcels, and driving for Uber as well.
Nikhil Chaudhary first caught the limelight when he was picked up for the Hobart Hurricanes in the Big Bash League, as he famously struck Pakistan fast bowler Haris Rauf for a six.
After a good Hobart Hurricanes season, he surprisingly earned a Sheffield Shield call-up when Matthew Kuhnemann had to suddenly leave for a national team duty. He had then caught the attention of national selector George Bailey as well by hitting a 76 not out, which saved the match in front of him.
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