The day former cricketer Munish Soni reached Chandigarh from Sydney, he straightaway drove to the Sector-16 Cricket Stadium to get a glimpse of the ground where he spent his early years honing his cricket skills under coaches like Desh Prem Azad and many more in the 90s, leaving him feeling nostalgic.
As a young cricketer of the era when cricketers like Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh and others were training at the stadium, Munish, 46, and his brother Amit, 48, among others, too were learning the craft of the game.
“It is so lovely to see the stadium buzzing with cricket action. This is where my heart belongs,” says Munish, whose love for the game and the will to give back to the sport had brought him back to Chandigarh.
Munish now owns Premium Aussies, a team representing Australia in the USA Cricket Board-backed American Premiere T20 League, which will be held in Florida in December. Back home, he is looking for talented cricketers and coaches to give Chandigarh players a platform to perform.
“We can rope in players from all over the world. I know this region has some top-notch cricketers and coaches. We are going to conduct trials and speak to seasoned coaches to shortlist potential cricketers. IPL is a top league but not all can play in that. So, I want to give a chance to all those who are talented and need a platform,” says Munish, who owns multiple businesses in Sydney.
{{/usCountry}}“We can rope in players from all over the world. I know this region has some top-notch cricketers and coaches. We are going to conduct trials and speak to seasoned coaches to shortlist potential cricketers. IPL is a top league but not all can play in that. So, I want to give a chance to all those who are talented and need a platform,” says Munish, who owns multiple businesses in Sydney.
{{/usCountry}}His team, Premium Aussies, has also brought on board former Test cricketer Ashok Malhotra, who also learnt his early cricket lessons in Chandigarh. A wicket-keeper and a batter, Munish went on to represent Panjab University and played for Chandigarh in the Haryana inter-district tournaments. At a point, academics took over and Munish moved to Australia to study in 1998 and went on to become a successful businessman.
But cricket always remained his first love and he continued to play club cricket in Australia and when there came an opportunity to become part of a T20 league, Munish bought the Aussies Premium team that is going to compete in the second edition of American Premiere T20 League.
Six teams will compete in the league representing different countries. Apart from Munish’s team, Premium Americans, Premium Paks, Premium Windies, Premium English, Premium Indians, Premium Bengalees.
“We are in talks with some former international Indian cricket legends to enlist them as the team mentor. It will be great when an Indian team will take on the Pakistan team and the Australia outfit will lock horns with the English team during the league. I am connected with my roots, and I want my people to grow and flourish. This is why I am here,” adds Munish, who was encouraged to buy the team by another former Chandigarh cricketer Gulrez Khan, based in the US.