Living the American dream

After featuring for India, country of his birth, in two age-group World Cups, USA all-rounder Harmeet left for the land of opportunities. Few years later, he's part of a global ICC event

-  GOMESH S

GOMESH S @ Chennai T'S Tuesday morning in Dallas. The T20 World Cup warm-up match between United States and Bangladesh had just been called off because of rain. Harmeet Singh one of the stars for USA during the bilateral series win against the same opponents had gotten back and was out with his family for breakfast.

Four years ago, when Harmeet moved to the US in pursuit of his dream of playing at the highest level, little did he imagine he would be making his T20 World Cup debut. It was a leap of faith against all odds. Harmeet, a Mumbai-born cricketer, had been playing first-class cricket as a professional for Tripura and he realised he could get stuck if he didn't do something.

So, when an offer came to play in Major League Cricket in the US, the left-arm spin-bowling all-rounder took it with both hands.

However, it was not easy. He flew in alone while his wife visited for a month before going back. She had her own job in India and was also pregnant.

Harmeet had no choice but to pursue his dream while trying to make ends meet. He playing in Atlanta, and then moved to Seattle where he was playing as well as doing some coaching. It looked that things were starting to settle down. Harmeet was getting his visa sorted, while his wife had moved to Austin to her sister's place.