Chaudhary charts unique path with ‘first dream’ accomplished

Nikhil Chaudhary had one thing on his mind after moving to Australia: To play in the Big Bash.

With that “first dream” now commandingly ticked off following his scintillating 31-ball 40 on debut for the Hobart Hurricanes on December 20, Chaudhary has set his sights on becoming one of the competition’s most feared finishers.

A self-described “hard-hitting finisher” and “very unorthodox” leg-spinner, the 27-year-old allrounder has quickly developed cult hero status across his first five games with his powerful striking, flamboyant personality and his Kabaddi-inspired wicket celebrations originating from the ancient Indian contact sport.

And while he would have been happy for an opportunity with any club in the Big Bash, he couldn’t have landed in a better place to learn from one of T20 cricket’s most destructive finishers right now – Tim David.

Before he’d even arrived at the Hurricanes this season, Chaudhary revealed David had already reached out to kickstart the relationship between master and apprentice.

“I’ve been talking to him from last couple months now, when I signed the contract, he messaged me straight away and he was like, ‘let’s do this boy’,” Chaudhary said.

“It’s pretty great … learning from him.

“He’s one of the best finishers and hitters in this world right now and his experience speaks for itself; he’s been with the Mumbai Indians for the last couple of years.”

***

Just the second Indian-born men’s player to feature in the Big Bash after Unmukt Chand, at one stage Chaudhary’s first dream would have been to make it to the Indian Premier League himself.

Having debuted under legendary Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh for his state side Punjab in 2017 and played alongside Yuvraj Singh and Shubman Gill in his domestic 50-over debut, that dream would have once seemed a real possibility too.

But not unlike former India U19 World Cup-winning captain Chand, who now dreams of representing the United States in this year’s T20 World Cup, Chaudhary’s path took a dramatic shift in 2020 when he relocated to Brisbane.

With no cricketing reputation to fall back on in his new home, he found a job in a Mexican restaurant before his mum intervened because he was “pretty bad with knives”.

“I literally cut my index finger,” he recalled. “So my mum was like, ‘You can’t do that, you’ve got to do some other job’.

“Then I started doing a courier job for Australia Post for the last two years, but I quit that three months ago when I got the (Hurricanes) contract.

“Everyone goes through a tough phase.

“When you play cricket on the side, but at the same time you have to work to pay off all your bills, you’ve got to go away from your comfort zone and do those things.

Chaudhary bowls against the Thunder on his way to figures of 2-26 // Getty

“It was a bit tough moving here because it’s been like three and a half years and I haven’t seen my family.

“But you’ve got to do the hard work to get here and I’m pretty grateful for that.”

***

Also key to Chaudhary’s breakout first season in the KFC BBL has been Hurricanes assistant James Hopes – the T20 head coach at the right-hander’s Queensland Premier club Northern Suburbs – who has seen his rapid rise through the Australian system first-hand.

Hopes put Chaudhary’s name forward to Hurricanes high performance manager Salliann Beams and head coach Jeff Vaughan after he smashed 469 runs at 39 and claimed 16 wickets for Norths in T20s in the two seasons since Hopes took over.

“James Hopes, our assistant coach, put his name forward and ever since he did that, he can’t stop scoring runs,” Beams said of Chaudhary after he signed with the Hurricanes in November.

“A player that’s always batted five, six, seven, he knows it so well. We’ve got a couple of players that will be fighting for that role but hopefully Nikhil will get his chance and prove to this competition that he can compete at this level.”

In just five games Chaudhary has already stamped his mark on the Big Bash, vindicating Hopes’ ringing endorsement with scores of 40 and 32 striking at 153 in his two innings so far, along with three wickets in his seven overs with the ball – the best bowling strike rate for the ‘Canes so far this season.

“I’ve been playing under him (James Hopes) for the last two years now, he’s been my coach in the KFC T20 Max and I’m pretty grateful he is one of those figures who really trusted in my skills and got me where I am today,” Chaudhary said.

“(The last) three years … it’s been a rollercoaster for me.

“But I’ve been performing well in the KFC T20 (Max) and I’m so grateful for the Hurricanes to give me this opportunity to show what I can do.”

***

Starting out trying to bowl fast like his idol Brett Lee is how Chaudhary originally found himself in the lower middle-order batting positions – the spots now occupied by role of the ‘finisher’.

“I wasn’t even a batsman, I used to just go out at number eight, nine and hit, that’s it,” he said.

“(Then) later I started bowling off-spin and when I moved to Australia I started leg-spin.”

Like with his Northern Suburbs club teammate Josh Brown, whom he comes up against in the Big Bash for the first time tonight when he returns to his adopted hometown of Brisbane with the Hurricanes to take on the undefeated Heat, Chaudhary believes there’s plenty of other capable Premier cricketers out there ready and waiting for their opportunity in the BBL limelight.

“Everyone needs their chance,” he said. “But obviously you got to work hard for that.

“I think Big Bash is a pretty good platform for all the young kids and if you work hard enough, if you score enough in your Premier games, everyone gets the chance.

“I’ve been playing with him (Brown) for last three years now and learning a lot from him.

“He’s done a great job for the Brisbane Heat and even now I’ve been talking to him about the atmosphere in the Big Bash because it’s different when you play without the crowd and with the crowd, it’s totally different.

“So I’ve learnt from him that how to manage that pressure and hopefully I’ll bring the same thing to the table and even more for the Hobart Hurricanes.”

KFC BBL|13 standings Team

Matches played

M

Wins

W

Losses

L

Ties

T

No results

N/R

Net Run Rate

NRR

Deductions

Ded.

Total points

PTS 1 Brisbane Heat Men HEA 8 6 0 0 2 1.435 0 14 2 Sydney Sixers Men SIX 8 4 2 0 2 0.253 0 10 3 Perth Scorchers Men SCO 6 4 1 0 1 1.153 0 9 4 Melbourne Stars Men STA 8 4 4 0 0 -1.122 0 8 5 Hobart Hurricanes Men HUR 7 3 4 0 0 -0.066 0 6 6 Adelaide Strikers Men STR 7 2 4 0 1 -0.231 0 5 7 Sydney Thunder Men THU 6 1 4 0 1 -0.42 0 3 8 Melbourne Renegades Men REN 8 1 6 0 1 -0.52 0 3 Legend

M: Matches played

W: Wins

L: Losses

T: Ties

N/R: No results

NRR: Net Run Rate

Ded.: Deductions

PTS: Total points

BKT Big Bash Tipping is back! Be in the running for some epic prizes, or go for bragging rights with family and friends. Register now