A heartening tale of an Indian man born in the country’s national capital New Delhi but one who moved to Scotland about 17 years ago and has since then kept up with his professional commitment as also being committed to his passion for cricket has caught the attention of many in Scotland and is currently making news.
The story is that of a fine 40-year-old gentleman by the name of Sahil Chopra who made his move to Glasgow in Scotland initially where he perused a degree in Financial Services Risk & Management, a career plan at its initial stages that meant that he would have to give up on his passion for Cricket, temporarily. But the same cricket loving and cricket playing Sahil, who once had to temporarily stay away from the game in order to meet other responsibilities in life is getting a fantastic opportunity to represent Scotland at a respectable level, the very country where he’s currently based. So how is that?
All set to represent Scotland in the over 40s World Cup, which later this year is slated to take place in the West Indies island of Guyana means that Sahil Chopra is all set to realise his big and long awaited dream.
He has been associated with the noted Renfrew Cricket club for a while and that is where he got the opportunity to stay connected to competitive club cricket in a respectable capacity.
Sahil’s story is an interesting and passionate one, about an India born individual who despite having to juggle responsibilities between his career and passion didn’t give up on the long cherished desire to play the game and has kept up with his passion.
In his own words, Sahil exclaimed, “I play every Saturday, so I leave home at around 10am in the morning to begin the game at 12pm. It's wrapped up by 8pm, and if you scored or if we won, we might go out for drinks afterwards. It can be a 12-hour commitment. We usually play on Tuesdays and the occasional Thursday as well.”
But then how did the selection for the Renfrew cricket club player actually take shape? A series of performance tests would certainly have mattered, to which Sahil shared the following-
“I went for three training sessions in a Dundee cricket club called Forfarshire, and after a series of performances, the selection committees chose 16 people to represent Scotland in Guyana, West Indies.”
That said, however, it was only after moving to Scotland and finishing his master’s course that upon reintroduction to the game by a dear friend around 10 years ago, that Sahil Chopra got reconnected to the sport he so loves.
He further touches upon his passion for the game, “I always wanted to work for a bank, I wanted to play cricket at a high level and own a sports bike, I fulfilled all my three dreams. In fact, the third dream is happening now.”
Sahil has also launched a GoFundMe page to fund the trip to the West Indies. This money will be going towards flights, accommodation and tournament fees for the event that he is so passionately waiting for.
