Nikhil Dutta (born 13 October 1994) is a Canadian

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er. He has represented the

Canada national cricket team The Canada men's national cricket team represents Canada in international cricket. The team is administered by Cricket Canada, which became an associate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 1968. With the United States, Canad ...

since 2013 as a right-arm

off spin Off spin is a type of spin bowling in cricket. A bowler who uses this technique is called an off spinner. Off spinners bowl with their right-arm and a finger spin action. Their normal delivery is called an off break, which spins from left to r ...

bowler. He has also played for franchises in the

Caribbean Premier League The Caribbean Premier League (abbreviated to CPL or CPLT20) is an annual Twenty20 cricket tournament held in the Caribbean. It was founded by Cricket West Indies in 2013 to replace the Caribbean Twenty20 as the premier Twenty20 competition in ...

Bangladesh Premier League Bangladesh Premier League (), also known as Dutch-Bangla Bank BPL for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Twenty20 cricket league in Bangladesh organised by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB). It was formed in 2011 by the BCB, after the su ...

and

Global T20 Canada The Global T20 Canada is a professional Twenty20 cricket tournament that is played in Canada. The first edition of the tournament took place during June and July 2018 with six teams competing. Each team featured four local Canadian cricketers ...

Personal life

Dutta was born on 13 October 1994 in

Kuwait City Kuwait City (; ) is the capital and largest city of Kuwait. Located at the heart of the country on the south shore of Kuwait Bay on the Persian Gulf, it is the political, cultural and economic center of the emirate, containing Kuwait's Seif Pal ...

. He is the son of

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

parents originally from

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

, India. The family moved to Canada in 1999 and settled in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

. His father Mihir Dutta, a software engineer, co-founded

Mississauga Mississauga is a Canadian city in the province of Ontario. Situated on the north-western shore of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, it borders Toronto (Etobicoke) to the east, Brampton to the north, Milton to the northwest, ...

-based Ontario Cricket Academy in 2002 along with

Derek Perera Derek Anthony Perera (born 13 October 1977) is a Canadian former cricketer of Sri Lankan origin. He has played for Canadian cricket team at the 1997 ICC Trophy The Carlsberg 1997 ICC Trophy was a cricket tournament played in Kuala Lumpur, Mal ...

. Dutta attended

Father Michael Goetz Secondary School Father Michael Goetz Secondary School (sometimes referred to as Goetz or abbreviated as FMG; Goetz pronounced as "Gates") is a Catholic school located in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. Founded by Ed King, it was established in 1987 (in its ori ...

in Mississauga. he was studying to become a financial advisor.

International career

In 2011, aged 16, Dutta was named in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

's squad for the 2011 ICC Americas Under-19 Championship in Fort Lauderdale. Dutta made his senior

One Day International One Day International (ODI) is a format of cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of fifty overs, with the game lasting up to 7 hours. The World Cup, generally held every four yea ...

debut for

against

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

in March 2013. He did not bat, and bowled six overs without taking a wicket. He was originally included in Canada's squad for the

2015 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier The 2015 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier, for the 2016 World Twenty20, was held from 6 to 26 July 2015. The tournament was hosted by both Ireland and Scotland. 51 matches were played among 14 nations, down from 72 matches among 16 nations previous ...

tournament in July 2015, but he chose to stay with the

St Kitts and Nevis Patriots The St Kitts & Nevis Patriots are a Caribbean Premier League (CPL) cricket franchise based in Saint Kitts and Nevis that participated in the competition for the first time in 2015 Caribbean Premier League, 2015. The team plays its home games at ...

in the

. He was replaced by Hiral Patel. In January 2018, he played in the

2018 ICC World Cricket League Division Two 2018 ICC World Cricket League Division Two was a cricket tournament that took place in February 2018 in Namibia. The United Arab Emirates won the tournament, after beating Nepal by 7 runs in the final. Canada and Namibia finished third and fourth ...

tournament, ending up as Canada's leading bowler, with 11 wickets. He was in Canada's squad for the 2018–19 ICC World Twenty20 Americas Qualifier tournament. In October 2018, he was named in Canada's squad for the

2018–19 Regional Super50 The 2018–19 Regional Super50 was the 45th edition of the Regional Super50, the domestic limited-overs cricket competition for the countries of the Cricket West Indies (CWI). The tournament started on 3 October 2018. The players' draft for the ...

tournament in the West Indies. In April 2019, he was named in Canada's squad for the

2019 ICC World Cricket League Division Two The 2019 ICC World Cricket League Division Two was an international cricket tournament that took place in April 2019 in Namibia. It was contested by six teams; Canada national cricket team, Canada, Hong Kong national cricket team, Hong Kong, Om ...

tournament in

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

. In August 2019, he was named in Canada's squad for the Regional Finals of the 2018–19 ICC T20 World Cup Americas Qualifier tournament. He made his

Twenty20 International Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of Twenty20 cricket, in which each team plays a single innings with a maximum of twenty overs. The matches are played between international teams recognized by the International Cricket Council (ICC). ...

(T20I) debut for Canada against the

Cayman Islands The Cayman Islands () is a self-governing British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory, and the largest by population. The territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, which are located so ...

on 18 August 2019. In September 2019, he was named in Canada's squad for the

2019 Malaysia Cricket World Cup Challenge League A The 2019 Malaysia Cricket World Cup Challenge League A was the inaugural edition of Group A of the 2019–2022 Cricket World Cup Challenge League, a cricket tournament which formed part of the qualification pathway to the 2023 Cricket World Cu ...

tournament. In October 2019, he was named in Canada's squad for the

2019 ICC T20 World Cup Qualifier The 2019 ICC Men's T20 World Cup Qualifier was a cricket tournament held during October and November 2019 in the United Arab Emirates to determine the teams that would qualify for the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup tournament. The six teams finis ...

tournament in the United Arab Emirates. Nikhil was selected for the T20 World Cup team 2024 for Canada. He played one game and got an important wicket against USA team.

Franchise career

Dutta played for

in the

2015 Caribbean Premier League The 2015 Caribbean Premier League or for sponsorship reasons, Hero CPL 2015 was the third season of the Caribbean Premier League, established by the West Indies Cricket Board. It began on 20 June and ended on 26 July. This season saw the introd ...

; he played in three matches with his most notable wicket being former-England international

Kevin Pietersen Kevin Peter Pietersen (born 27 June 1980) is a former England international cricketer. He is regarded as one of the greatest England batsmen to have played the game, and renowned for his competitive, and often controversial nature. He was a ri ...

. Later that year, Dutta was signed by the Barisal Bulls, one of the six teams playing in the

2015 Bangladesh Premier League Fifteen or 15 may refer to: *15 (number) *one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015 Music *Fifteen (band), a punk rock band Albums * ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005 * ''15'' (Ani Lorak album), 2007 * ''15'' (Phatfish album), 2008 * ' ...

. He played one game, taking 3/18. On 3 June 2018, he was selected to play for the Toronto Nationals in the players' draft for the inaugural edition of the

tournament. In June 2019, he was selected to play for the Montreal Tigers franchise team in the

2019 Global T20 Canada The 2019 Global T20 Canada was the second edition of the Global T20 Canada, a professional Twenty20 cricket tournament that was played at the CAA Centre, Brampton in Ontario, Canada. It started on 25 July 2019, and concluded with the final on ...

tournament. He was added to the New Jersey Stallions for the 2021 Minor League Cricket season. In June 2024, he was selected to play for the Toronto Nationals franchise team in the 2024 Global T20 Canada tournament.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dutta, Nikhil 1994 births Living people Canadian cricketers Canada One Day International cricketers Canada Twenty20 International cricketers Sportspeople from Kuwait City Indian expatriates in Kuwait Indian emigrants to Canada Canadian sportspeople of Indian descent St Kitts and Nevis Patriots cricketers ICC Americas cricketers