Ajaz Patel and his ‘Fabulous 10’ in the match against India, playing alongside NZ has created a huge buzz for the India and Indian Cricketing Diaspora. Playing for India is a dream for every budding talent in the nation but there is a huge base of Indian Talents playing for other international professional, non-professional, club or teams. Also, there is a collosal number of players that have left the Indian Domestic crickets to join other international teams and playing against the Dream Team they have dreamt to play for. Spinners are the key to every game in this tech driven cricketing time. So here is the list of some arch well spinners who are originally Indian Talent but playing against their home country.
Standing at 5 feet 6 inches, Ajaz Patel so far has played 11 Tests and 7 T20Is for New Zealand. Making his first class debut in 2012, Ajaz wore the Kiwi national colors for the first time in 2018.
In 1996 Ajaz’s family decided to move to New Zealand from Mumbai’s Jogeshwari area. Ajaz was 8 years old when he shifted base to Auckland. Ajaz Patel, there, first started as a pacer but then switched to spin bowling in his early 20s.
From there on, cut to 2021, he recently became only the third bowler in Test cricket’s 144-year-old history to register a Perfect 10. Ajaz so far has three 5-wicket hauls in Test cricket and has best figures of 4 for 16 in T20Is.
Rachin Ravindra
Bud.ding star Rachin Ravindra is another such story of an Indian origin player representing New Zealand in recent times. The 22-year-old, who is jointly named after Indian legends Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar (Ra-chin) made his debut for New Zealand in 2021 itself and so far has 2 Tests and 6 T20Is to his name. Rachin, born in 1999 in Wellington to Indian parents, made his first class debut in New Zealand in 2018.Rachin’s father Ravi Krishnamurthy, is an Indian software engineer who moved to New Zealand in the mid-90s. The left-arm orthodox spinner so far has 3 and 6 wickets in Tests and T20Is respectively and also has 107 runs with the bat in international cricket.
Ish Sodhi
Ish Sodhi is a player Indian cricket fans know well. The 29-year-old has been a regular part of the Kiwi set up in the limited-overs format in the recent past. But the leggie was not born and brought up in the island nation. Born in Ludhiana, Ish’s parents migrated to Auckland (New Zealand) when Ish was very young. From there on, the leggie played his early cricket in Auckland and honed his spin skills on spin unfriendly pitches of New Zealand. Ish, so far has represented New Zealand in 17 Tests, 33 ODIs and 66 T20Is and also played a crucial role in his team’s journey to the final of this year’s T20 World Cup.
Keshav Maharaj (South Africa)
South African left-arm orthodox spinner Keshav Maharaj was born and brought up in Natal, Durban but has an Indian connection. His father Athmanand is an Indian-born South African, who, in his initial days played for Natal Province in South Africa. He however, could not represent South Africa during his playing days as the country, in the early 90s, was banned from international cricket in the Apartheid era.
However, Athmanand’s son Keshav is nowadays a key figure in the Proteas setup. A bowler, who also has enough skills with the bat, has been a Protea spearhead in spin bowling in recent times.
The 31-year-old, so far has represented South Africa in 36 Tests, 15 ODI and 6 T20Is and has 155 combined wickets to his name across formats. Keshav also has 835 runs to his name with the bat across formats with a highest score of 73 in Tests.
Sunil Naraine
Narine also has Indian origins. His ancestors moved to the Caribbean and Narine was born and brought up in Arima, Trinidad and Tobago. The now 33-year-old’s shot to fame came when he bagged ten wickets in a trial match and then, in January 2009 he got a call up for the Trinidad and Tobago squad. After that Narine went on to make his international debut for West Indies in 2011 and has never looked back since. Narine has represented West Indies in 6 Tests, 65 ODIs and 51 T20Is but nowadays focuses mostly on playing franchise cricket around the world.
Disclaimer:
The information contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as a health advice. We would ask you to consult a qualified professional or medical expert to gain additional knowledge before you choose to consume any product or perform any exercise.
