Texas Super Kings, a team owned by the Chennai Super Kings, signed Guyanese Raj Nannan, a left-arm spinner as a domestic signing ahead of Season two of Major League Cricket (MLC).
The MLC will launch on July 4 and conclude in early August.
Raj reveals his emotions about being picked by the Super Kings in the MLC, his childhood, and more in an exclusive chat with Texas Super Kings.
Excerpts from the chat
On getting a call from Texas Super Kings
As soon as I got the email for the draft from Major League, I was so, so excited. I always wanted to be part of the Super Kings family. Chennai Super Kings is my favourite team in the IPL. So, it was like one of those moments. It was at 3:20 AM and I woke my wife up immediately. I showed her the email and we didn’t sleep back for the entire day.
On being part of the Super Kings family
Obviously, Dhoni, he’s one of the best captains to play the game. So, I always like the way he goes about his business. Ravindra Jadeja, I kind of look up to him. I try to keep my game as good as his and take a few tips from him.
On motivation to play cricket
I’m originally from Guyana. I started my career playing for GCC (Georgetown Cricket Club). My grandfather actually taught me the game. I was about four or five years old. He would make bats from anything, a piece of wood or a tree branch. So, from there, the love grew. I just fell in love with the game immediately and couldn’t stop playing since then.
On his Cricketing idols
Some of my favorite cricketers were Michael Clarke, Mitchell Starc, Ravindra Jadeja, and Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Yuvraj Singh, he was one of the guys that I first started looking at. I was always eager to look at him, the flair that he had, the energy that he brings to the game.
On Ups and Downs in his career
It was a tough part, a lot of ups and downs in my career back in Guyana. It was a very difficult team for me to break in. So, because of the senior players there, already played for West Indies and been playing a while, so it was hard for me. But I never gave up. I kept trying.
On Cricket in the USA
Yeah, it’s definitely on the rise. It’s very exciting because players from all parts of the world come here to play. You have every single country that plays international cricket, their players, first-class players, people, persons trying to get into the first-class side. So, it’s very competitive. The first time I came, I had no idea how competitive it was going to be.
I heard people talking about cricket in the US. I always thought it was an easy path. But after coming here and realizing how many talented players there are here, it’s something very exciting.
In a few years’ time, I truly believe that the USA team is going to be a really good team and a tough one to beat.
On Moving to the USA from Guyana
It’s definitely a huge change for me in terms of the culture and everything. Getting to practice, knowing where to practice is very challenging. But as I said, I know what I want and I have my goals, so I just find a way to get it done.
On Major League Cricket
Definitely looking forward to the tournament, very excited. Have been putting in some work, a lot of work actually, so yeah very excited. And just can’t wait to be on the field.
Definitely you get to learn a lot from people from other countries. You got to hear their stories, what they went through, what they’ve been through, what they’re going through. So yeah, it’s quite a unique place to have a cricketing career.
On the story behind his nickname
I got that name when I was younger. Probably, my teenager friends in my neighborhood used to call me ‘Dapper’ because they said that every time, I came out the house, I was always dressing like I’m going out or I’m going to model or something. So that’s how I got that name. (TSK)