Winnipeg cricketer raising the bar for bowlers and batsmen
A Winnipeg cricketer is raising the bar for bowlers and batsmen, and now has his eyes set on the world stage.
Jatinder Matharu is the latest Manitoban to be selected to the national senior cricket team.
While he learned to play the game in India, he didn't realize his full potential in cricket until moving to Winnipeg from India at 16 years old.
Cricket brought a sense of familiarity for Matharu, but it was also an opportunity to grow his game.
“My main role was as a bowler. I wasn’t really that good as a batsman. That training helped me a lot here, right,” said Matharu, who also goes by the name Sunny.
“And then I started playing here, and my coach started focusing on my batting too, so I kind of improved on my batting as well,” said Matharu.
Recently named to the national cricket team, he's the first Manitoban to represent Canada in eight years.
Unlike those before him, Matharu played almost all of his competitive cricket in the province.
“The other players, they played high level outside, came here with the skill set, enhanced that and made the Canadian team. Sunny is, although he learned cricket as a teenager, he perfected his skill set right here in Assiniboine Park with competition here,’ said Ray Ramrattan of the Cosmos Cricket Club.
Known in cricket as an all-rounder, Matharu is described as the complete package. Building a reputation as a versatile bowler and a dangerous batsman.
In fact, his coach considers him the gold standard of cricket in Manitoba.
“Me as a manager, I’ll walk by and see a kid and then I would say, ‘That’s the next Sunny,’ and you hear other people say things like that. He’s handling it well. He is a role model without trying,” said Ramrattan.
Being a role model to the up-and-coming cricket players here in Manitoba is something Matharu is embracing as he prepares to leave his Winnipeg Cosmos Club team to join Team Canada.
“There’s also young people, young players, that are always watching me and they want to see me at that level so it’s not a pressure, I would say it’s actually building more confidence in me,” said Matharu.
Proud to be representing Canada on the world stage, Matharu said he is now one step closer to his ultimate dream.
“To play World Cup. I would say that’s the last thing,” Matharu said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
It's no secret that spring can be a tumultuous time for Canadian weather, and as an unseasonably mild El Nino winter gives way to summer, there's bound to be a few swings in temperature that seem out of the ordinary. From Ontario to the Atlantic, though, this week is about to feel a little erratic.
What do weight loss drugs mean for a diet industry built on eating less and exercising more?
Recent injected drugs like Wegovy and its predecessor, the diabetes medication Ozempic, are reshaping the health and fitness industries.
He replaced Mickey Mantle. Now baseball's oldest living major leaguer is turning 100
The oldest living former major leaguer, Art Schallock turns 100 on Thursday and is being celebrated in the Bay Area and beyond as the milestone approaches.
What a urologist wants you to know about male infertility
When opposite sex couples are trying and failing to get pregnant, the attention often focuses on the woman. That’s not always the case.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Made-in-Newfoundland vodka claims top prize at worldwide competition
A Newfoundland-made vodka has been named one of the world’s best by judges at this year’s World Vodka Awards.