India's Got Talent judge Navjot Singh Sidhu: I sacrificed my army goal for my father's dream of me playing cricket
Set to judge India's Got Talent season 11, Navjot Singh Sidhu reveals how cricket was never his choice of career, and why he gave up his dream of being in Army
Former cricketer, politician, commentator, reality show judge, there are many hats that Navjot Singh Sidhu has worn over the course of his career., and now he is set to join the jury panel of India's Got Talent with Malaika Arora and Shaan.
But it all started with a big sacrifice that he made for his father. “I wanted to go into the army and I cleared my IMA (Indian Military Academy) exam at the first attempt. But when I was about to go, my father stopped me and said, ‘na jaa, main jee nahi paunga tere bina’. So, I actually sacrificed a career that I foresaw for myself, and realised a dream that my father wanted for me and pursued a career in cricket,” Navjot Singh Sidhu says.
But the ride from there also wasn’t a smooth one. “When I was first picked for the Indian team, my father celebrated with the whole town. Patiala pura talli kar diya tha unhone. But after that, I was suddenly dropped and there was this article published that said, ‘Navjot Singh Sidhu: The Strokeless Wonder’. He was so hurt by that and that's the first time I saw my father cry. I was dumbfounded,” he shares.
However, Sidhu used it as a motivation, and took a vow that if he is his father’s son, he will play for India soon. “It took four years and in this time, I followed a regimental schedule. I was waking up at 3am, rolling the pitch and watering the pitch myself, practicing for hours and hitting 125 sixes every day. My hands would bleed. I invented a special kind of glove which would soak all that blood and then it would harden. After four years, I was picked up for the World Cup squad and made my debut against Australia with five sixes. In the next match with New Zealand, I hit six sixes, totalling 11 sixes in two matches and made five 50s in a row. That world record stood till last year when Virat Kohli broke it in the World Cup. So, there's nothing easy in life. It's all about blood sweat, toil and tears,” he says.
{{/usCountry}}However, Sidhu used it as a motivation, and took a vow that if he is his father’s son, he will play for India soon. “It took four years and in this time, I followed a regimental schedule. I was waking up at 3am, rolling the pitch and watering the pitch myself, practicing for hours and hitting 125 sixes every day. My hands would bleed. I invented a special kind of glove which would soak all that blood and then it would harden. After four years, I was picked up for the World Cup squad and made my debut against Australia with five sixes. In the next match with New Zealand, I hit six sixes, totalling 11 sixes in two matches and made five 50s in a row. That world record stood till last year when Virat Kohli broke it in the World Cup. So, there's nothing easy in life. It's all about blood sweat, toil and tears,” he says.
{{/usCountry}}Now, he is imparting that same inspiration to others as a judge on India’s Got Talent season 11, and he is excited for this new role. “There is always a first time. Politics happened for the first time when not even in the wildest of my dreams, did I ever imagine that I'll do politics. Politics was never my profession, it was my mission. Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans,” he ends.
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