Where R They Now ? – Jaiveer Chauhan (York U) ‘s Bond mission in Oz !

Bond University Cricket 2014, Jaiveer Chauhan front left.

Its a far way from the shores of Lake Ontario, Canada to the Gold Coast of Australia,but American College Cricket’s Jaiveer Chauhan (York University) is pursuing his studies whilst following his cricket dreams !

Jaiveer C (as he’s often called himself on Facebook) cherishes his first American College Cricket Championship in 2010 when he was 19 years old, “It was a wonderful experience. I remember the Semis & Finals were streamed live on Ustream, and shown on the jumbotron at the Square One Shopping Centre (Toronto) where it was seen by thousands of shoppers. I played an important part with the ball in the Semi finals and the Finals against York College. In the 2010 finals,my stat’s were 4-16-2.”

The 2010 Championship had a record-setting 47 matches in 4 days & York University won – how did it feel, winning the Chanderpaul Trophy ?

“It felt great to be a part of such an unprecedented event. It was the first time that any of us had been part of a game that was web streamed live – people saw us around the world. York University’s victory helped get cricket mainstream attention in Canada – we were in the Globe & Mail.

The biggest disappointments for me came in 2011 & 2012 when we lost in the semi finals twice in a row. Despite the losses, it was a pleasure to play in a stadium while thousands if not millions of viewers on television were watching the game. I’ll cherish my three tours to the American College Cricket Championships for the rest of my life.”

You played with Khushroo & Raza who both went on to play for Canada – tell us about them as cricketers ? and Jai Patel ?

Khushroo and Raza were gifts of god, exceptional talents ! I have seen and played with a lot of cricketers, but those two were the best cricketers I have had an opportunity to play with. I have not seen a better timer of the cricket ball than Khushroo. What a talent, and on top of that, one of the humblest people.

Raza is a legend. He played for Pakistan under 19 as a fast bowling all rounder, and then went on to play for Canada as a batting all-rounder (bowling left arm orthodox). He always gave the impression that he had so much time to play the ball while batting. Raza was Canada’s highest run scorer last year. I’d say he’s one of the best to ever represent Canada.

Jai Patel was also exceptional. Our lefty opener destroyed teams single handedly in the American College Cricket Championships. He was also a wonderful bloke off the field. Playing with such greats made me pick up my game and perform as well as I could. It’s an experience I’ll never forget. Made three great friends as well.”

Now 5′ 9, 150 lbs the boyish-looking Jaiveer’s notable feature was his hair-style which seemed to be inspired by Rod Stewart, but we noticed a bit of a change, “Aha I like to try different ones now & again !”
Jaiveer’s family immigrated to Canada when he was 8 years old but he kept his love for cricket growing up in Canada, and he told us what inspired him :

There is only one man, and his name is Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar. He inspired me to keep playing the game, even though I was in Canada. Most memories of India that I have are of playing or watching cricket. When I first arrived to Canada in 2000, there were not many people playing cricket. With a bunch of my friends, we started playing cricket in a park close to my house with a tennis ball wrapped up in tape. As school kids, we used to be out there every evening. During our summer holidays, me and my friends got up at 5 AM to work on making a cricket pitch in our local park with our feet. We played from 6 in the morning to 12 at noon almost every day in the summer holidays. That’s how much of a passion I had for this wonderful game of cricket.”

A leg spinner, Jaiveer also loves batting and “With the help of some Aussies and the Bond University coach (Max Christensen), I have improved quite a bit since I arrived to Australia 2 months ago, making the team as a bowling all rounder”.

Chauhan arrived on the Gold Coast of Queensland, Australia on May 5th to do a Graduate degree in Law. After completing his undergrad degree at York University, double majoring in Urban Studies & Geography, he had a desire to continue playing the kind of competitive cricket he enjoyed in American College Cricket and,

” The options were between Australia or America. I have been passionate about cricket my whole life, and I found out Bond University has a great program so I wasn’t going to throw this once in a lifetime opportunity away. Any free time that I have I shadow practice, something I was told to do religiously by my good friend and inspiration, Khushroo Wadia.”

Bond University is very competitive in sports, and Jaiveer is looking forward to the opportunity to represent the college. He has also dared to wonder, and asked American College Cricket President Lloyd, if an American College Cricket tour to Australia could happen, or perhaps a Bond University tour to America ?