Sikh youngster Mahinder Pal Singh gets selected in the National Cricket Academy of Pakistan

20-year-old Mahinder Pal Singh, a Pakistani Sikh who hails from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) in north-western Pakistan, has occupied the headlines after becoming the first-ever Pakistani Sikh to get selected in the famed National Cricket Academy (NCA) of Pakistan.

Mahinder started out playing the game in the Gurudwara yard at Nankana Sahib district in Punjab province, the birthplace of Guru Nanak. The talented fast bowler, who looks up to Pakistan’s legendary bowlers like Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram is rated among the top 30 young cricket talents from the country as per Geo News and is currently pursuing Doctor of Pharmacy in Punjab University.

In an exclusive interaction with Pakistani newspaper Tribune, Mahinder revealed his love for Pakistan and his journey from playing near Gurdwaras to becoming one of the most prominent names in domestic circles.

“We used to play in Gurdwara’s yard. However, no problem was able to deflate my passion is to wear the green shirt in international cricket and that helped me find the right path,” said Mahinder of his struggles to the newspaper.

Mahinder also says that despite suggestions of moving to A different country to pursue his cricketing dream, he chose to stay in his country of birth.

“My father was the only person who supported me and helped me reach this point. I want to highlight the name of my country, my family and my community. My community members often told me to go abroad and join some other country’s cricket team but I used to reply that I will be a part of the ‘green team’ in the future,” he added.

Pakistan cricket under-19 team chooses its first ever Sikh player

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Mahinder is lieu of becoming path breaker if he manages to continues performing impressively and gains more significant national attention. Danish Kaneria, the former leg-spinner who played 61 Tests and 18 ODIs for Pakistan at the international level, also created headlines back in 2000 when he became the first Hindu cricketer to play fro Pakistan.