CHENNAI: Navneet Dhaliwal of Canada could not have announced his retirement at better time. The 37-year-old is going to end his international career spanning 11 years in the country where he grew up playing cricket. And he has chosen the biggest stage -- the T20 World Cup -- to do so.
On Wednesday, he had announced his retirement from international cricket, marking Thursday's final league match against Afghanistan here as his last. "I took the decision before I came here (for the World Cup)," he told reporters on Wednesday.
Before reluctantly moving to Canada, Dhaliwal was growing up in Mohali, playing for Punjab's age-group teams. One of the memories that he would cherish is throwing balls to a young Shubman Gill. "His dad came to me, said, 'can you throw a few balls to him? Check him out. Otherwise, he's a little kid with a very good technique'. So yeah, I still remember that." Navneet told this daily before announcing his retirement.
Now, coming back to the country, Dhaliwal ensured that he would leave his mark. It has seen a significant progress as well. He made 64 in the first group stage match against South Africa in Ahmedabad. Although Canada went on to lose that fixture, that knock of was important for the him. It was a tribute to his father, who made the decision of moving to Canada where he acquired a petrol station. After a long-battle with cancer, he succumbed to it while getting treated in Mumbai two years ago.
He recalled the knock on February 9, with his father in memory. "Whenever I have a tough time, I think about that particular moment when he was kind of dying slowly in chemo(therapy). Then the doctor said he only has one month. So Every day in that one month, he was getting 10 years older. So I think if I got past that period, (comparatively) South Africa bowlers were not that great. (Thinking about how I got) past, it kind of motivated me and he's always with me when I'm kind of very, very like in a tough situation," he said.
Before his announcement, Navneet had himself said that he was near to saying goodbye to his career, when asked about where he stands on it. "It's not gonna be easy. But sometimes I feel we are kind of very selfish. Especially with the families. (We miss out on all their best moments, Today's 16th (Monday), my wedding anniversary and I'm here," he said.
While he said he wants to spend time with more family, Dhaliwal said that he might make his foray into coaching. "I think it's very tough for me to completely stay away from cricket. So I spoke with a few people who are involved greatly in cricket. We're starting a cricket academy for the youth in Brampton. There, a lot of South Asians live there. So that's our plan. We have a lot of coaches there, but the quality is missing," he said.
Dhaliwal's time in India
Growing up in Mohali, Dhaliwal's journey as a cricketer was at crossroads after he represented Punjab at the U19 level. His father, in the year 2010 purchased a petrol bunk in Canada, prompting a shift from his homeland. Navneet was a tough customer to convince, as he recalled how his father convinced him.
"I never wanted to leave. They bought it and it took about 2-3 years to just convince me to switch. I started professional cricket at 16. After playing in the under 22 level, where I represented my district (in Punjab), then my father convinced me to play in Canada, he's someone who can't take no for an answer like he's kind of a big boss, you know. When I said no, he said you can play there, this then, eventually I got convinced.
That move to Canada, could not have been better. Having made 48 T20I appearances (His 49th will be on Thursday), Dhaliwal has mustered over 1000 runs, averaging 32.62. His highest score remains an unbeaten 70.
Before Yuvraj Samra's historic ton, it was Dhaliwal and his knocks that brought Canada one step closer to relevance.
As he walks into the sunset of his career, Navneet feels his legacy should be more on the efforts on the field. "If a 38-year-old guy who is diving at the end of his career, they can follow that and do the same for Canada," he said.
As he takes the field with his teammates under the lights in Chepauk on Thursday, he will be eager to round-off his career on a high.