It was only a day back, a report claimed that former UP skipper & and ex-RCB player Akshdeep Nath was granted UAE citizenship through naturalisation, and now, just a day later, the 32-year-old has made his international debut as well. Featuring in the side for a two-match T20I series against Nepal, Akshdeep was handed over the cap.
Akshdeep Nath leaves India for UAE
Akshdeep made his FC debut way back in 2012, but never really came close to an India cap, but did end up 14 matches in the IPL. He played 8 matches for RCB in the 2019 season, along with Virat Kohli. But as a lower-order batter, his highest was only 24, and was not given opportunities thereafter. Nonetheless, he was nothing short of a stalwart for UP in domestic cricket, where in 51 FC matches he scored 2659 at an average of 37.
Makes debut for UAE
List A cricket was his most preferred format, where in 85 matches, he went on to score 2704 runs at an average of 45. In T20s, he played 86 matches in all, and managed to get 1310 runs. Tracing back his early cricketing career, he was part of the U19 World Cup winning team, which featured Unmukt Chand.
Meanwhile, he isn’t the cricketer for India, who have moved countries, just to be able to play international cricket. Unmukt moved to the USA for better cricketing opportunities there. Saurabh Netravalkar is one of USA’s main pacers, and did quite well in the 2024 edition of T20 World Cup. Another such player was Smit Patel, who moved there as well. Not to forget, there was Harmeet Singh and Milind Kumar as well, and both of them have represented US in cricket.
Coming back to the UAE players’ list, Akshdeep isn’t the only one to get UAE citizenship. Harpreet Singh Bhatia is also now eligible to play for the country. Though, like Aksh, he wasn’t included in the XI for Nepal 1st T20I.
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