Who Is Nikhil Chaudhary? First Indian Cricketer To Score Century In Australia's Sheffield Shield Tournament

Nikhil Chaudhary is a Delhi-born cricketer, who now resides in Australia with an aspiration to represent the Aussie national team. He recently scripted history by becoming the first Indian origin player to score a century in Australia's first-class Sheffield Shield tournament.

He smashed 163 runs off 184 balls during Tasmania's recent Sheffield Shield match against New South Wales in Sydney.

His knock helped Tasmania beat New South Wales by an innings and 58 runs.

Nikhil recently invited the Indian team for a dinner party before they played the 3rd of a 5-match T20I series earlier this month in Brisbane.

Star players like Abhishek Sharma, Arshdeep Singh along with Harshit Rana were spotted in a dinner table with Nikhil Chaudhary, who posted the picture with a caption that read - "Oh Punjabi aagaye oye".

Interestingly, Nikhil Chaudhary used to share the dressing room with both Abhishek and Arshdeep during his time with Team Punjab in the Indian domestic circuit.

Born in Delhi and raised in Punjab, Nikhil Chaudhary has represented the latter state across all age groups. The all-rounder made his domestic debut against Haryana in an inter-state T20 competition back in 2017.

3 months later, he was called up by Punjab for that year's Vijay Hazare Trophy, where he rubbed shoulders with former India greats Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh as well as current captain Shubman Gill.

He began his career with fast bowling but later transitioned into a leg-spinner, while also improving his batting abilities. Despite emerging as a talented youngster, Nikhil couldn't really break into the Indian cricketing system and even had an unsuccessful IPL trial with the Mumbai Indians.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, Nikhil Chaudhary was stranded in Australia with a travel visa. He utilized his spare time by actively participating in local club matches and working multiple jobs. He took up some odd jobs like that of a butcher, delivery boy and an Uber driver.

Despite working round the clock, Nikhil Chaudhary was determined about his cricketing dreams. His talent was soon noticed by a local Australia coach, who recommended Nikhil to the Big Bash League draft after seeing the latter smash 7 sixes in a semi-final match.

In late 2023, Nikhil was drafted by Hobart Hurricanes for the Big Bash League before getting called up by Tasmania, where he made his first-class Sheffield Shield debut in the absence of Matthew Kuhnemann.