For the love of cricket – Nitish Kumar’s journey from Canada to USA

“There was Covid-19, [and] Toronto had one of the longest lockdowns in the world. There was nothing going on in terms of cricket,” Nitish told ESPNcricinfo ahead of the T20 World Cup. “And to be fair, I’ve always dreamt about playing cricket. And I’m someone that’s 100% in; I’m not going to do 50-50.”

So he shifted to the USA. It was October 2020. He was 26. And he just wanted to play cricket.

“I don’t want to give up playing cricket. I don’t want to wait.”

And, not long after, he picked up the nickname “Tendulkar”, because he copied the batter’s mannerisms and style.

“I don’t know who [gave me the nickname]. I can’t recall watching too much cricket when young. But I used to watch videos. Sachin’s my favourite player, and I used to copy his style – even his pads and helmet.”

“Exposure to good competition is what we look for. There are times in Associate cricket when you have nothing; you don’t have any cricket – or sometimes no training – because there’s not enough funding”

Nitish Kumar

Canada. UK. Later USA. But the family never went too far from their Indian roots. Nitish recalls his mother fasting during Navratri and asking him to “not eat meat” for that period. She had “the little stuff instilled” in him.

“It felt weird. I played against my home country,” Nitish said. “I played against the coach, Pubudu [Dassanayake], who picked me for Canada in 2009. He’s the one I played the [ODI] World Cup under in 2011. But, at the end of the day, there’s a job to do.”

Two years later, in July 2023, Nitish met Narine again. This time, they were part of the same side, Los Angeles Knight Riders (LAKR) at Major League Cricket (MLC), USA’s own T20 franchise league. Nitish also had Andre Russell for company there.

“Sunny is pretty quiet. He takes it easy on us in the nets (laughs). But I remember watching Russell bat in the nets, and also the way he was hitting the ball. I was thinking, ‘why am I even watching him because it’s putting me down – I don’t want to watch.”

“It makes a huge difference. With the salaries, it gives guys an opportunity to play full time. Because otherwise, a lot of us, we would probably have to both work [to earn] and play.”

“You know how big franchises are like [when there is foreign interest in them]. With the competition and how the tournament is run, it’s something every year to look forward to. I think it’s super important that MLC keeps happening every year, [and help USA cricket] like IPL has helped Indian cricket.”

For the moment, though, Nitish is focused on the home World Cup. He will be playing one after 13 years.

“The ambition is obviously there, and we want to win as many games as possible. Exposure to good competition is what we look for. There are times in Associate cricket when you have nothing; you don’t have any cricket – or sometimes no training – because there’s not enough funding.”