A self-proclaimed cricket tragic, Nikhil Kulkarni, joins this episode.
What's a cricket tragic, you ask? Well, the short answer is "an extremely passionate, almost obsessive fan of (the sport of)cricket."
Nikhil fits the bill!
Born in India and currently living and working in Australia, Nikhil spent the better part of three weeks during December 2024 and January 2025 attending three cricket test matches (which can last five days in many cases) in Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney, watching India take on Australia as part of the bilateral Border-Gavaskar Trophy matches. Australia won the trophy in this installment, winning three tests while dropping one and drawing another.
From Nikhil's experience traveling to the three cities to watch the two rivals was borne his debut book, My Summer of Cricket: Three tests, one fan, and decades of stories, a memoir of sorts that simultaneously chronicles his life as a fan and his experiences during his time in the stands during the summer of 2024-25.
During our Conversation, Nikhil discusses learning the sport via radio broadcasts during his youth in India, what the logistics were like planning his travels around Australia, and what he took away from the experience.
Oh, yeah, since Conversations' host, Doug Hill, is not yet a fully functional cricket fan (let alone a tragic!), Nikhil exhibits tremendous patience in explaining some cricket basics to Doug and the listeners.
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