UAE-born Karan Singh Sandhu gets a national call up to represent India in Indoor Cricket World Cup

Karan Singh Sandhu, who was born and raised in UAE is all set to represent India in Indoor Cricket World Cup. The 30-year-old has marked his guard and looks forward to representing the country of heritage, rather than one of his birth, which is scheduled to take place in Dubai next month.

After the news reached him, Karan was overwhelmed and feels like he has got “Hogwarts letter”. Interestingly, he is the only player to represent India who is an outside representative. For an individual, the idea of representing the country is magical and Sandhu feels the same.

National call like ‘Hogwarts letter’

“It is like getting the Hogwarts letter – only 19 years late. I get goosebumps when I think about it, and when I get it, I’m going to show it off everywhere that I can. The motivation for me was to wear those Indian colours. I am still getting jitters just thinking about it. I haven’t told all my friends, but the ones who do know about it are more excited than me about me wearing that blue clothing. It is the dream of every Indian to wear those colours and represent India,” Sandhu was quoted by TheNational.ae as saying.

Introduced to Indoor Cricket 14 years ago

He was first introduced to indoor cricket 14 years ago, when he sat with his uncle, Amit Anand, at the umpire’s plinth at the court during his summer holidays. After witnessing the matches, Sandhu applied the techniques to his game and has reached a point where he is now an outstanding player in a format which is highly popular in the UAE.

He was one of the several Dubai-based players who were invited for trials but fortunately, he was the only one to make way through to the national side.

“We were all supposed to go together to train for the India team, but then they backed out,” said Sandhu, who took a two weeks’ leave from his job in the oil and gas industry to attend the trial in Bangalore. “Since the beginning, I have always wanted to play for India, but I did think I might get a call from UAE. I have been playing in the A Division for four years now. All my teammates got a call for the try outs, but I didn’t,” he added.

“I remember that day, they said they had misplaced my number, so they didn’t call me. In the meantime, the [UAE-based] sponsors of the India team gave me a call and ask me to try out for them. I said I would love to. The day I was flying, I got an invite to attend the UAE trials. I said thanks, but I didn’t take a second thought against going and joining the India team,” Karan stated.

Recommended by Anis Sajan

Sandhu was recommended to the Indian selectors by team mentor Anis Sajan and one would have to say, he didn’t disappoint his mentor.

Sajan said, “I felt if he had greater exposure, he could rub shoulders with players in the higher standard. We sent him there to the camp, and he impressed, which is why they put him in the 16.”

Sandhu said the talent on show at the training camp in India was “immense”, even if the format is not as popular as its outdoor version in India.

“I knew indoor cricket is not that famous in India. I thought I had a good chance, because of my experience of 14 years of playing and having had a recommendation, even though the coach over there hadn’t seen me at all.

“It was a challenge for me to prove myself. I had to put in extra effort, going over to their place, into their territory and trying to claim a place. It was difficult,” Sandhu concluded.