Not surprisingly Nicholas Manohar, familiarly
known as Nick, readily cites the century he
scored during Canada’s penultimate match at
this year’s South Africa hosted ICC U19 World
Cup as his proudest cricket related achievement to date.
Manohar’s ton was only the second ever by a Canadian at an
ICCU19 World Cup, following Akash Gill’s during the 2018
Tournament a fact that made the achievement in his own
words “that much sweeter!”
Now approaching his twentieth birthday, he was born on
December 12, 2000, in Brampton, Ontario, Nick Manohar’s
interest in cricket started when he was just a toddler. His Dad,
Reginald Manohar, was an active cricketer in both Guyana
and Canada so the interest was inevitably transferred to
Nick from when he was very young. Nick has often been told
many stories of himself first playing cricket in the family
home’s kitchen, wearing nothing but diapers. Growing up he
constantly practiced in his backyard up until he was around
age 9, which was when he was finally enrolled at the Tranzac
Cricket Academy. For Nick, his interest in and passion for
cricket has therefore always been there for as long as
he can remember!
A few key individuals were the initial influencers
to the early development of Nick Manohar’s
now very promising cricket career. Of these,
his Dad who served as his very first coach
was arguably the most influential in
sowing the initial seeds of Nick’s now
deeply rooted determination to make the
most of the natural talent with which he
has been so obviously and abundantly
blessed.
Following his enrollment at the Tranzac
Cricket Academy, that institution’s Founder
and Head Coach, Sherriff Boodhoo took Nick
under his personal wing. In so doing, Coach
Boodhoo definitely also played a major role
in grooming him into the player he has
since become.
Nick however also credits
his Mom,Videsha Tiwari,
as having had the greatest
impact on his cricket. This
by virtue of her provided
outstanding support and unhesitating willingness to put
aside many things so to allow him to pursue his dreams! “My
Mom definitely gives me the motivation and inspiration to
believe I can achieve anything!”
Not unlike other young and aspiring cricketers, Nick
has admired and sought to emulate the achievements of
accomplished players as he now pursues his own dreams of
outstanding international success. Growing up the player
he admired most was Shivnarine Chanderpaul. To such an
extent that he most misguidingly considers Chanderpaul to
be “arguably the greatest batsman to ever play for the West
Indies!”
Manohar readily admits to having tried to emulate the
accomplished Guyanese and West Indian’s batting by
copying his stance to such a degree
that he has even been called
Chanderpaul many
times. Nick’s favorite
player now though is
South Africa’s Quinton
De Kock, who he views as
having a very similar game
in terms of their shared
inclinations to be stylish,
aggressive, and confident while
at the batting crease.
As naturally talented as he is,
well-coached and guided by
the accomplished success of his
identified heroes, such as Shiv
Chanderpaul and Quinton De
Kock, Nick Manohar’s now firmly
established and ultimate ambition as a cricketer is to
play for many different international T20 Franchise
Tournaments such as GT20. Towards that end. his
immediate goal is to play in the Caribbean Premier
League. He doesn’t really care as to which of the
CPL’s six Franchises he would be representing,
although if given a choice he would definitely
prefer the Guyana Amazon Warriors.
Ambitiously, Nick also suggests that for him CPL
and/or GT20 representation would merely be a stepping
stone towards his achievement of the ultimate T20 prize
of participation in the Indian Premier League. ThankfullyNick’s established cricket achievement objectives also include being a part of Canada’s journey back to the senior World
Cup.
As part of his journey towards the achievement of his admittedly lofty cricketing ambitions, Nick Manohar describes his
participation at this year’s South Africa hosted U19 World Cup as having exceeded even his wildest expectations!
“It was like nothing I’ve ever imagined, everywhere we went we were treated as celebrities in a sense. We even had Security
checking the buses before we got on board. Just little things like that made the experience that much more surreal. Also
being able to represent my country on the world stage in front of both the local spectators and a much wider global television
audience, I couldn’t have felt more proud as a Canadian!”
For Nick the most pleasing aspect of Canada’s 2020 U19 World Cup participation was the way the team finished the
Tournament, Defeating Japan and UAE was definitely most pleasing! “We had a really talented team and could’ve done a
lot better than we did but the resilience that we demonstrated as a group was second to none. As such we were able to leave
South Africa with some pride and the definite feeling that we deserved to be there!”
The flip side to that sense of having belonged at
the Tournament was the experienced emotions
of extreme disappointment which immediately
followed Canada’s loss to the West Indies. In
a match that was the Canadians’ to win and
which by all rights they should rightfully have
won, Canada’s main bowlers most unfortunately
sustained injures at the most inopportune times.
That allowed the West Indies’ lower order to get
set and just score runs at will. Even though it was
very disappointing and a hard pill to swallow, Nick
suggests that Team Canada nevertheless gained a lot
of confidence from that match.
His 2020 South Africa U19 World Cup participation
experience has also provided Nick Manohar with
some very valuable personal takeaways! Perhaps the
most important of which was the lesson he learned to
never give up!
Denied of playing opportunities during Team Canada’s
initial matches he didn’t allow either his non-selection or
what others were saying about it to ever faze him. “I didn’t
care what the outside world had to say and I only controlled
what I could control, which was practicing hard every day in
the nets, even staying back for some extra practices. Just staying
ready for my opportunity, which when it was eventually presented
I made the most of. There was no better feeling!”
Nick Manohar now fully intends to use his 2020 U19 World Cup
participation, as well as his history-making century, as a springboard
to furthering his career as a Canadian cricketer and fulfilling his stated
ambitions. “I know that the U19 World Cup was only the beginning
and that the hard work starts now, but I hope that my Tournament
participation and performance can show the powers that be not only
that I do have what it takes and but also, more importantly, that I’m not
at all afraid of being on the big stage!”
Words very much worth noting from an obviously well talented and
highly motivated emerging Canadian cricketer. A cricket career the
further development of which will definitely be “One To Watch
Nick Manohar: One To Watch!
