Kritika Naidu writes for Cricbuzz in Dhaka, Bangladesh:
In a day and age where social media takes precedence over your morning newspaper, an endorsement on such a platform can mean much to a rookie cricketer. Especially when it comes from someone as experienced as West Indian Marlon Samuels can do wonders for the confidence of a young lad coming from the biting cold of Canada that sees eight months of winter.
Nikhil Dutta, a Kuwait-born, 21-year-old with Indian roots, has a dream. He holds close the desire of being a part of all the major Twenty20 leagues in the world.
The journey could be arduous, but a series of stepping stones in the right direction has helped pave the path for him. Picked by St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in the Caribbean Premier League this season for his offbreaks,and subsequently in the Bangladesh Premier League by the Barisal Bulls, his self-proclaimed “ultimate goal” of playing the Indian Premier League doesn’t seem improbable anymore.
“Six Americans got the chance to go to six franchises in the CPL and have a trial,” Dutta told CricBuzz. “From that, Steven Taylor got picked for Barbados Tridents and I got picked for St Kitts. It was really good. Everyone backed me there – the coach Eric Simmons, Marlon Samuels, Shahid Afridi and then knowing that I was going to play the first game was surprising and maybe the biggest game of my life at the time,” he gushed.