Nikhil Chaudhary (Cricketer)

Some Lesser Known Facts About Nikhil Chaudhary

• Nikhil Chaudhary started playing cricket at the age of 10.

  

• He shifted to Punjab from Delhi with his family at a very young age.

  

• Initially, he wanted to become a fast bowler like the Australian former international cricketer Brett Lee. However, he later switched to off-spin and then to legspin.

• In 2016-2017, he played for Punjab in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, where he scored 25 runs and took 2 wickets against Haryana.

• In 2017, Chaudhary became known in Indian domestic cricket as a player who excelled in both batting and all-round skills.

• Being an all-rounder, he achieved success in the U-19 cricket team and got picked for the Punjab team. He played his first Twenty20 match for Punjab in the Inter-State Twenty-20 Tournament on 29 January 2017 against Haryana.

• Nikhil made his debut in List-A cricket in 2017, where he played for Punjab against Haryana.

  

• He scored 500 runs in 7 matches during Col. CK Naidu trophy U23.

  

• In 2018, he was a part of the team won the under-23 one-day championship.

  

• He has been trained under Harbhajan Singh and Yuvraj Singh in Punjab.

• In 2019, he attempted the trails for the Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League (IPL), but didn’t get selected.

• Later, he went on a vacation to Australia. In 2020, he was struck in Brisbane due to the COVID-19 lockdown. While staying there, he worked as a courier at Australia Post and also worked at a Mexican restaurant.

• During his stay in Australia, he continued to play cricket actively in club cricket for Northern Suburbs and caught attention for his outstanding batting skills.

• In 2023, following his participation in grade cricket in Brisbane, Chaudhary became a part of the Hobart Hurricanes team for the 2023–24 season of the Big Bash League.

  

• In an interview, he revealed that he got the opportunity to play in BBL on the recommendation the Australian former cricketer James Hopes, who has also been a coach for Hobart Hurricanes.

• He grabbed the crowd’s attention with his impressive score of 40 runs in 31 balls before getting bowled by left-arm fast bowler Jason Behrendorff in his debut match against the Perth Scorchers on 20 December 2023. He also smashed a six against Pakistan pacer Haris Rauf in the match.

• Before getting selected for BBL, he once played as a Covid-19 replacement player for the Brisbane Heat in a match.

• In 2023, he faced Afghanistan spinner Rashid Khan in a trial match and smashed two sixes in an over.

• As of 2023, his best performance was scoring 272 runs in a U-19 match between Ludhiana and Amritsar at Gandhi Ground in Amritsar and 6 wickets giving 25 runs.

• He marked his presence in the wickets column by taking two wickets against Sydney Thunder on 1 January 2024. ^[3]Nikhil Chaudhary – Instagram

• His unique celebration style, known as the ‘thigh-five,’ has become his signature move, resembling the well-known Indian batsman Shikhar Dhawan. This gesture reflects his connection to his Indian heritage.

  

• According to him, he got an offer to play in various other leagues including American and Abu Dhabi leagues after getting selected for the BBL.

• In an interview, he expressed the desire to bowl to Australian cricketer Glenn Maxwell and face the bowling of Australian cricketer Mitchell Starc.

• He is often spotted consuming alcohol on various occasions.