Xtra Time Web Desk; Chandigarh born Jaskaran Malhotra on Thursday joined his idol Yuvraj Singh in hitting six sixes in an over. Jaskaran, who represents USA smashed an unbeaten 173 runs off 124 balls in the second one-day international against Papua New Guinea at Oman. Malhotra hit Papua New Guinea fast bowler Gaudi Toka for six sixes in the final over of the innings. Jaskaran ended up blasting an unbeaten 173 off 124 balls, becoming the first cricketer from USA to score an ODI ton.
Jaskaran joined an elite club of cricketers comprising South Africa’s Herschelle Gibbs, Yuvraj Singh and Kieron Pollard. The 31 year old wicket keeper batsman also surpassed South African AB de Villiers’ 162 to become the highest scorer by a number five batsman in ODIs.
The hard hitting batsman from Punjab has made quite a name for himself in US cricket ever since he shifted to that country in 2017. He is the man who made Shahid Afridi’s leg-spin look ordinary when he smashed four consecutive sixes off the former Pakistan skipper during a league match in the USA in 2017.
Jaskaran decided to shift base to US with an eye to make a professional career. He took the decision once he failed to make it to the India squad for the U19 World Cup in 2008. The decision to shift to US turned out to be a boon on both professional and personal fronts. He made his way into the USA cricket team and also married Preeti after meeting her in US.
Looking back, Malhotra played List A matches for Himachal Pradesh before he shifted base to the USA. He even led the Himachal Pradesh U-19 team in the Cooch Behar Trophy. He was also among the probables of the U-19 Indian cricket team for the 2008 World Cup in Malaysia. In fact, in 2008, he declined a huge offer from the Indian Cricket League (ICL).
A huge turnaround in Jaskaran’s game came after J Arunkumar joined the USA team as coach. A former Karanataka captain, J Arunkumar led his state team win the Ranji Trophy, the Vijay Hazare Trophy, and the Irani Cup – for two seasons: 2013-14 and 2014-15. Besides Karnataka, he has also worked with Hyderabad and Puducherry and with Kings XI Punjab (Punjab Kings) in the Indian Premier League.
Malhotra, who was drafted by St Lucia Stars (now St Lucia Kings) in the 2018 Caribbean Premier League, is now eyeing an IPL contract next season with two more teams set to be added.