Nikhil Koteeswaran, cricket pro-athlete
We caught up with Nikhil Koteeswaran, pro-athelete, on all things cricket and what a privilege it has been to play for Scotland in the U19's World Cup.
My journey into cricket...
I began playing cricket at 7 years old because my dad and brother both love the sport too, so I joined a local club and loved the sport from the start. I think being Scottish, the cricketing pathway back home is a little smaller than some of the major countries. This has meant I've been involved in the Scottish age group squads since I was 14, so it felt like a natural goal and progression to get into the U19 team and attempt to qualify for the ICC U19 world cup as a squad.
From a university perspective, it has just meant that I've had to be slightly more organized to balance studying and cricket, and plan well ahead to go back home for training, as well as factoring in my strength and conditioning sessions every week.
Proud to represent Scotland
Being selected for the squad for the World Cup was obviously a very proud moment, knowing that I had the opportunity to represent my country on the world stage. I've been lucky enough to play for Scotland u17s and u19s for the last three years, so I have that same pride to play for Scotland every time I get to wear the Thistle.
The main difference was the global scale of the event and challenging ourselves against the world's best, but at the heart of it we were all just proud to represent our country.
When we arrived in South Africa, we had a weeklong pre tournament camp, followed by 5 official warmup matches. This took out the nerves quite a bit as even though it was competitive it wasn't quite the real thing yet. Once we got to the World Cup games against England, West Indies and South Africa, I would say we were mostly happy and excited to play in a stadium and on Sky Sports.
Connecting communities and giving back
When in South Africa we were lucky enough to work with the International Cricket Councils charity "Cricket for Good" and run a training clinic and interact with children from less fortunate backgrounds. This was a great experience and one of the highlights of the trip. Out with the ICC, our team manager also organized for us to visit a local community and spend a morning with them, which again was something I will remember.