For the majority of his life Davindar Uppal has cheered for the Men in Blue. However, come Saturday, the man raised in Punjab will be donning the yellow jersey
Australia's Param Uppal is dismissed in the opening match of the U-19 World Cup against India last month. Pic/ICC
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For the majority of his life Davindar Uppal has cheered for the Men in Blue. However, come Saturday, the man raised in Punjab will be donning the yellow jersey. He has a good reason too, as his son Param Uppal will be playing for Australia against the country of his birth. "Yes, I will be supporting Australia," Uppal Sr said with a smile and a sense of pride. Davindar, a high court lawyer in Chandigarh, migrated to Sydney nearly 15 years ago with his wife Jaspreet and Param, who was only four then. Right from a young age Param would accompany Davindar on the couch and both would watch cricket for hours.
"When he was six or seven, he used to watch the whole match. That was rare for a boy of that age. Normally, you find them watch it for a couple of hours and then get distracted, but not Param," he told mid-day.
Having noticed his son's interest in the game, Davindar enrolled him at the Kellyville Cricket Club when he was nine and since then, he has not looked back. At 14, Param was announced as the junior state player of the year. He played first grade cricket when he was just 16 and scored a hundred on debut for the Australian U-19 team. Though cricket always took precedence, Param had to convince his mother that he would continue to focus on his education as well. "As a school teacher, I explained to him that he would also need to focus on his academics. He has been quite good at balancing his studies and cricket," Jaspreet said.
Param's grandfather Harbhajan too is with him in New Zealand for the World Cup. When asked whom he would support in the final, Harbhajan said: "When it comes to the senior team, I will always be with India. But with my grandson playing, it's Aussies all the way," he said.
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