A natural right hander who has ended up becoming a gifted left arm orthodox spinner to become a quite unique cricketer in the US and indeed international cricket in general, an ambidextrous one!
So it means he can also bowl useful right arm off breaks, which makes him an appealing prospect whenever a US squad is chosen, as he can effectively fill two roles.
He played for the US at under 19 level and plies his trade in the New York region.
It’s not that we expect to be able to bowl like Malcolm Marshall, or unfurl a magnificent straight drive like Sachin, it’s just a bit of harmless fun. Perhaps the best we could hope for is an ironic laugh from our buddies. But for Prashant Nair, his ability to imitate his favorite players has lead to him playing International cricket.
Nair is a natural right hander. However, growing up in his home state of Kerala in India, many of his favorite bowlers were left-arm spinners. The likes of Daniel Vettori, Brad Hogg and Ashley Giles inspired the young cricket fanatic, and he took to trying to bowl with his unnatural hand to more accurately depict his heroes. For him it was just a bit of harmless fun, but for his local cricket coach something else was going on. He believed that Nair had a real ability to bowl with his left arm, and encouraged him to bowl left arm orthodox spin at the regional U13 trials. Incredibly, he was picked for the U13 Kerala side in his first attempt.
Settling into the New York region, he began to ply his trade in the local leagues, and in 2011 was picked for the US U19 team. He took 5/57 against the West Indies U19 team in one of a series of matches played at the Central Broward Regional Park Stadium, and impressed enough to secure a spot on the U19 touring squad for the World Cup qualifiers in Ireland.
Unfortunately Nair only played 1 of USAs 9 matches during the tournament in Ireland, and on returning to the States decided he should also practice bowling with his natural right arm to add another arrow to his quiver. Word began to spread in senior ranks of a bowler from the New York region who could bowl with both arms, and by 2015 he was bowling equally well with both hands.
In 2016 the allure of having someone in the US Squad that could effectively fill two roles in one saw Nair picked in the Senior Mens US squad for the ICC World Cricket League division 4 in Los Angeles.
In his first match for the US in WCL 4 against Jersey he took a wicket with his very first ball. Bowling with his unnatural arm of course. By his own admission he can’t do anything else with his left hand. Go figure.
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