Canada8217;s Tendulkar8217;: A 22-yard generation gap

Nitishs mother Sarb didnt let the tragedy affect those ambitions,and continued to drop him off at the Toronto Academy nets,passing on the duties to Nitish elder sister when she acquired a driving license. They call him Little Tendulkar in Canada,and he is certainly a prodigious talent to watch out for in that country and late Vikal Kumars dream of making his son a cricketer is coincidentally as old as Sachin Tendulkars career in international cricket the family went to Canada from Ludhiana in 1989,Nitish was born in 94.

Crickets like a religion in India,and Nitish is the perfect Indian dream fulfilled in Canada, says Canadian media manager Mike Henry,who remembers Nitish as someone just a few feet taller than the pads he wears now.

Hes very committed to do well for Canada,and theres big things in store for the lad, he adds,saying the right-hand bat displays enough determination to go the distance,and will soon seek out a scholarship and club cricket or County even in England. In four-day games,the youngster has batted at 3 or 4,but looks good to open the batting should he be called up. Davison,who turns 41 this May when Nitish hits 17,remembers seeing the frame of a focussed father correcting his sons technique in relentless practice sessions.

A bit of a shuffle is on the cards, captain Ashish Bagai says,hinting at a possible WC debut,and Davison says hell only be proud. I saw him as a 6-year-old and even then he was playing pull-shots and what not in the nets! Itll be interesting if the oldest and youngest go out and open tomorrow. The good thing is we cancel each other out in average age, he chuckles.

Theres a parallel with Davison too,who came to Canada courtesy his parents consulates from Australia,which gives him dual citizenship,and also a chance to get coaching certification as he moves up the ranks at the Australian Cricket academy in Brisbane.

Bowler first

The story goes that Davison originally a bowler became an opener when during his first World Cup,his team-mates got cold,quaking feet at the prospect of facing West Indian pacers. Thats when he put his hand up,and his courage has already yielded two World Cup feats. His 111 off 76 in that same match in 2003 was at one time the fastest World Cup tons,and four years later,he hit the then third-fastest 50 off 23 balls against new Zealand. Obviously theres expectations,but I bat accordingly,keeping in mind expectations, Davison says.

On Monday in a match both the lesser-rated teams Zimbabwe and Canada would want to win badly Canadas young emigrant-son will have plenty of help from the 40-year-old who made Canada his home and they now call Boom Boom for his lusty blows.

He once smacked Shoaib Akhtar out of the park in a quadrangular,and at another time hit a six so long that they joked theyd need to sit in a golf-cart to go look for the ball. Theres Rizwan Cheema,who hits them long with a perky smile on his face too,but in this world Cup,sooner or later,it will be Nitish Kumar whose progress will be followed just to see how long the lad they called Tendulkar-in-the-making can go. Theres a fathers determined dream propelling this tale into the realm of big hits.