Several non-Muslim cricketers have represented Pakistan in Test matches and ODIs, namely Wallis Mathias, Yousuf Youhana, seven Christians, two Hindus, but never a Sikh. Mahinder Pal Singh is looking to change that. He is part of the 20,000 strong Sikh community in Pakistan and has become the first Sikh to be selected as part of 30 players to join the National Cricket Academy training and skill camp in Multan.
“It was a proud moment for me to be selected for the camp,” he said.
21 year old Mahinder Pal Singh is a medium-pacer who dreams to represent the country one day. He is the first one from his community to be recognized at this level.
"It has been a childhood dream for me to play for Pakistan," Mahinder told ESPN Sports.
Coming from perhaps the smallest minority in Pakistan, Mahinder had his fair share of difficulty in breaking his community’s conventions and his prospects of making it to the Pakistan Cricket system seemed almost doomed.
"Nobody in our community has gone that far and taken cricket as his ambition," he said.
He grew up within the Sikh community at Nankana Sahib, the birth place of the founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak. His original home, however, is in Mardan, but in 2003 his family had to move to Nankana Sahib after his family was included in the country’s Internally Displaced People (IDP). He was not allowed to play till his matriculation but then he made a deal with his father that he will follow his studies but also play cricket. His father, Dr Harjeet Singh, is a Homeopath who wants Mahinder pal to become a doctor too.
At the age of 17, Mahinder decided to join the Abdul Qadir Academy just outside of Gaddafi Stadium but only spent a year there. He wasn’t convinced it was the right path to get to Pakistan’s mainstream cricket. After facing disappointment at the academy and missing out on playing in the Under-19 circuit, he decided to switch clubs to Services Club in northern Lahore.
He travelled to Mardan to take part in the open trials at the NCA where he caught the eye of the academy’s director, Mudassar Nazar. The senior General Manager Ali Zia and coach, Ijaz Ahmed also noticed him. A successful second round of trials in Multan saw him enter the NCA programme.
Source: @Singh Studios/ESPN Sport
Although, any reservations against making a push in professional cricket or about representing a country where they are a minority community is, according to a Sikh elder, ‘self-inflicted insecurity’, Balwant Singh, head of Gurdwara Janam Asthan in Nankana Sahib, says Mahinder’s progress is a beacon for the community.
"Four of our boys tried their luck in the last ten years, but none of them went as far as Mahinder. They lost their way because there was no guidance, until Mahinder managed to touch down at the NCA. We have a desire to see our boys in cricket."
The community is hopeful, that unlike other from their community who have tried and failed, Mahinder will go far and achieve his goals.
