Smit Raval - an Indian student in Sydney, is representing the New South Wales Premier Grade team which is believed to be a stepping stone to the Big Bash T20 League, Indian Premier League and other international level cricket tournaments.
Moving to Australia just six months ago in March 2018 on a student visa, Smit was directly selected for the NSW Premier Grades Divisions without playing any club level cricket tournaments.
Talking about what he has achieved in such a short span in Australia, Smit Raval told SBS Gujarati: "When I moved here, my main aim was to play cricket and fulfil my dream of doing something for the game."
"Firstly, I studied the cricketing system of Australia, its tournaments and various levels of the game as this system is quite new for me."
"I contacted various clubs with the details of my cricketing profile in India. One club invited me to attend the selection trial and I did. They were pretty happy with my performance and my profile, and offered me a contract to play for them in the NSW Premier Grades Divisions," said Smit.
Apart from playing cricket for the NSW Premier Grades, Smit is also coaching the young cricketers. Many of them are playing for the District level cricket tournaments in Sydney.
Before achieving success on Australian soil, Smit's cricketing journey started in 2012, when he joined the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporations Cricket Club as a pace bowler. He represented the district team in the 2014-15 seasons.
Smit's outstanding performance landed him a call from the County Cricket in England but he got injured during one of the local tournaments in Gujarat.
CN school under-19 Gujarat Cricket Association one-day champions 2018 Source: Smit Raval
Remembering a hard time recovering from this injury, Smit said: "I injured my knee which kept me away from cricket for almost 10 months."
"But I didn't lose hope. I couldn't bowl pace bowling so I started leg-spin bowling. Moreover, I utilized that time for BCCI's level 1 coaching course."
Smit said the coaching course proved to be very helpful. “I have learned cricket coaching skills and some other key information related to the prevention of injury."
Under-13 champions of CN sports academy 2018 with coach Smit Raval Source: Smit Raval
Smit's dedication and passion for cricket got him a contract from the Railways cricket team after recovering from the injury. There he played cricket at District, State and Zonal levels. The Zonal level cricket gave him the cricketing experience which is helping him play on Australian soil.
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