One To Watch: Yaksh Patel

Yaksh Patel was born on March 31, 2005 in Gujarat,
India. He moved to Canada with his family in 2010 at
the age of five.

It was at that age, as a five-year-old, that Yaksh first became
interested in cricket. His Dad’s passion for cricket proved to
be the stimulus for Yaksh’s interest at such a very young age. His
Dad watching cricket at their family home, and telling Yaksh
about his experiences playing Club cricket, were the initial
influencing factors for his interest. Yaksh’s cricket journey only
really got started though at the age of 10, as the direct result
of his selection to his school’s cricket team!

After being told of Yaksh’s growing interest in cricket, his Dad
immediately signed him up to a team near their house. Being
one of the youngest players in the Club, Yaksh was put in to
play on the Under-14 team.

In 2019, at the age of 14, Yaksh joined the Ontario Cricket
Academy (OCA) after seeing their top facilities and coaching
programs on social media. In his very first Season at the OCA,
he was given the responsibility to captain the Under-14 team.

After having a decent Season, Yaksh started to develop the
desire to pursue cricket as a career. Since the start of his
cricket journey, his Dad has played a big role along with the
OCA Coaches in developing his skills, while coaching and
guiding Yaksh towards the right path.

The highlights to date of Yaksh’s now very promising Canadian
Cricket career include his having played at the recent
Winnipeg-hosted 2022 Canada Cup. Yaksh was also named
as vice-captain of the Ontario Colts for its participation in the
tournament.

At the end of the tournament, Yaksh was 6th
on the Leaderboard for the most runs, scoring
127 runs in 5 matches with an average of
31.75. Unfortunately, his Ontario Colts team
did not manage to win the Cup but finished
2nd in the tournament.

Yaksh has now set very clear and specific
goals for the further development of his
Canadian cricket career. He would like to
play the 2024 Under 19 World Cup for
Canada and later on to also play for the
Canadian Men’s National Senior cricket
team. He sees himself scoring runs, taking
wickets, and playing against top cricketing
countries such as India and Australia.

Yaksh intends to accomplish these ambitions
with the support of the OCA and
its coaches, by staying fit, as well
as fulfilling mini goals that will
allow him to eventually fulfill each of
his established ambitions.

Yaksh’s progress towards the
fulfilment of his very
admirable ambitions will
indeed be One To Watch!

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