Sports

Ludhiana's Jimmy Singh Hansra Bats For Canada

by NIDHI SINGHI

Ludhiana, Punjab

While England's Monty Singh Panesar may have been the inspiration behind Akshay-starrer 'Patiala House', the list of successful expat cricketers from Punjab does not end with him.

With at least a couple of them playing for different countries in the ongoing cricket World Cup, the neighbourhood cricketer dreaming of making it big in foreign shores has all of a sudden emerged the strongest follower of the game, and Ludhiana's Model Town Extension boys are no exception.

It's in house number 15-A here that Sikh-Canadian Jimmy Singh Hansra used to pad up for gully cricket not more than a decade ago, and is today part of the Canadian World Cup team. The excitement is all over the locality even as Jimmy's extended family gather here for a rare get together to celebrate the success of this boy news door.

Though Jimmy's family is settled in Canada, his father and brother have made sure not to miss the action and would be accompanying him across the venues. In fact, even his second cousins here have made a plan to see all the matches being played in India just to give him moral support.

Seventy-year-old Pritam Kaur is unable to describe her feelings on seeing her grandson on television playing cricket for Canada. Herself a cricket fan, Pritam Kaur does not want to miss even a single match played by him.

''Jimmy had called me on Sunday night that I should definitely see the match between Canada and Zimbabwe,'' she said.

Proud father Avtar Singh has no words to describe his happiness and is so overwhelmed with the success of his son that he is narrating his story to all relatives coming to the house. ''I had moved to Canada in 1999 along with my family but there too Jimmy never stopped playing cricket and it was his devotion that he achieved his goal,'' he said.

For his uncle Jagtar Singh, it is because of their native relations with Kamalpura village falling in Ludhiana district that he developed taste for cricket. ''All our relatives are calling us from various parts of the country just to inquire whether it is their son who has been selected in the Canada team," he said.

''I have especially come from Canada with my father to see matches in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore because my brother is playing in the World Cup,'' said younger brother Rajbeer Singh.

For Jimmy's teachers at Sacred Heart Convent School too, it is a proud feeling that their student was playing in the World Cup. ''Jimmy was a bright student and I am very much happy for him,'' said his teacher Nandini Sharma.

[Courtesy: Times of India]

March 1, 2011

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