Nikhil Chaudhary set to return to Hobart Hurricanes after rape acquittal

Nikhil Chaudhary, the 28-year-old spinner who was recently found not guilty of the rape charges against him by a jury for raping a 20-year-old woman in a car in Townsville in 2021, is all set to make his return to Hobart Hurricanes in the BBL (Big Bash League). It is worth noting that Cricket Tasmania said that they were not informed of the charge or court action.

Chaudhary joined the franchise in late 2023 and had his deal extended to 2027 in February, the month before the trial. The bowler had played nine games in the BBL 2023, maintaining an average of 26 runs with the bat and taking five wickets. 

Cricket Tasmania’s high-performance general manager, Salliann Beams, came forward to tell the press that the franchise was still going through some internal processes in relation to the 28-year-old.

"[There are] some legalities through that process, It's not so much the incident because we know that nothing happened ... legally not guilty and everything. It's just the disclosure of information. We want to know where we sit on that because we were completely in the dark,” Salliann Beams was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo. 

Furthermore, she also reflected on how Cricket Tasmania was disappointed that Chaudhary did not inform the club about the criminal charges against him or the court proceedings. 

"You have to deal with the organisation's point of view and the impact that it could potentially have on that, because you don't really want to associate yourself with ... that type of investigation. But at the same time, you can understand from the players' point of view is that, you know, they've done nothing wrong and it's a scary place, [You're] legally advised not to say anything, so you're always balancing different sides of the story,” Beams added. 

Beams reflected on how proud she was of how Cricket Tasmania handled the situation with Chaudhary and made sure that every employee was managed in the most efficient way possible.