Who is Nikhil Naik?
You may take the first look of Nikhil Naik as that of Afghanistan’s Mohammad Shahzad, the bulky wicket-keeper bat. But his mates at the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) call him ‘Indian Russell’. He is all set to begin his IPL journey for KKR, and it would be right to take a look at his career so far.
Nikhil Naik, before being picked up for his base price of Rs.20 lakh was a part of the Kings XI Punjab franchise. However, taking about the same time that he got, he made 27 runs in the two innings that he got to play so far for KXIP.
Nikhil Naik is a top opener right-handed batsman and is known for his destructive style of batting. He was all over the news after a sizzling 95 off only 58 balls for Maharashtra, which helped the Team get into the Final of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy earlier this month.
The batsman made his List-A debut for Maharashtra Vs Gujarat in Vijay Hazare trophy in 2014. He went on to score 234 runs at an average of 58.50. During the 2018-19 seasons, he made his Ranji Trophy debut vs Railways.
Nikhil Naik has been through much to see himself rising in the ranks in Cricket. Her mother succumbed to Paralysis in 2010. His father, a Fish merchant, had a harrowing time in arranging to make way for his Cricket kit.
A quick introduction of Nikhil Shankar Naik
Nikhil Shankar Naik was born on 9 November 1994 and is an Indian Cricketer who features for Maharashtra Cricket Team. He is a right-handed explosive opening batsman and can also keep the wickets occasionally. He was picked up for Rs.30 lakh by the Kings XI Punjab franchise to play in the IPL season 2015.
He was later signed by the Kolkata Knight Riders in December 2018 during the player Auction for IPL season 2019 for Rs.20 lakh.
On 7 January 2019, he had his debut for Maharashtra in Ranji Trophy 2018-19 seasons. During one of the marches in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in the season of 2019, he hit 5 sixes in an over at the Indore’s Holkar Stadium against the Railways.
He was let go by KKR before the IPL 2019 Auction. But in the Player Auction in Kolkata on 19 December 2019, he was again picked by his KKR franchise for the 2020 IPL.
Nikhil Naik was born in a small town of Swantvadi in Maharashtra, and he is known for taking some amazing catches, hitting the ball out of the park and more. His clean striking of the white ball and his perfect wicket-keeping skills has helped him become a hot proposition for every T20 franchise. To strengthen their wicket keeping bench, KKR signed him for a paltry Rs.20 lakh. But with Robin Uthappa and Dinesh Karthik, it would be tough for him to secure a spot in the playing XI. However, he is looking for whatever chances that may come his way to make the most of it and force his way upwards.
The turning point of his career
Nikhil Naik exhibited exemplary batting abilities in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy while representing Mumbai. Just before the beginning of the IPL, he hit five sixes to show what he can bring to the table to the whole world. Provided he is given ample chances, he can well become the trump card of the KRR, an already star-studded IPL Team.
Nikhil Naik Basic Info/ Wiki –
| Full name | Nikhil Shankar Naik |
| Nickname | Indian Russell |
| Date of Birth | 09th November 1994 |
| Age | 26 Years ( in 2020) |
| Place of Birth | Sawantwadi, Maharashtra, India |
| Zodiac sign | Scorpio |
| Religion | Hinduism |
| Caste | Saraswat Brahman |
| School | NA |
| College | NA |
| Degree | NA |
| Height | 5’7”” |
| Weight | 80 kg |
| Eyes | Black |
| Hair | Black |
| Body Colour | Light Brown |
Nikhil Naik Family –
Nikhil has kept the identity of his family hidden. All we know about him is that his father was a fish Vendor, he lost his mother in 2010 to Paralysis. Also, he has a sister. We also got to know, that in Nikhil’s initial days there were not financially strong. His father used to borrow money in order to arrange a cricket Kit for Nikhil Naik.
Nikhil really loves his dad & he calls him his hero.
| Father | Shankar Naik |
| Mother | NA |
| Sister | 1 sister |
| Brother | NA |
| Marital Status | NA |
| Girlfriend | NA |
| Wife | NA |
| Marriage Date | NA |
| Children | NA |
He may not reveal his family names, but you can follow his social accounts to keep yourself up to date with his daily activities.
Nikhil Naik Instagram account – https://www.instagram.com/nikhilnaik__/
Nikhil Naik Net Worth & Salary
In total, he has earned around ₹ 1,30,00,000 from IPL Salary alone.
Here is a breakdown of his total income from IPL-
| Year | Team | Salary |
| 2020 | Kolkata Knight Riders | ₹ 20,00,000 |
| 2019 | Kolkata Knight Riders | ₹ 20,00,000 |
| 2017 | Kings XI Punjab | ₹ 30,00,000 |
| 2016 | Kings XI Punjab | ₹ 30,00,000 |
| 2015 | Kings XI Punjab | ₹ 30,00,000 |
| Total | Total Lifetime earning | ₹ 1,30,00,000 |
Nikhil Naik Cars-
Nikhil Naik owns a Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza.
Nikhil Naik Cricket Career & Stats –
| Playing Role | Batsman |
| Batting style | Right Handed Bat |
| Bowling style | Right-arm off-break |
| Jersey Number | 72 & 16 in Kings XI Punjab team, 2015 IPL 7 in Kolkata Knight Riders team, 2019 IPL |
Career Statistics –
| Only First-class | Railways v Maharashtra at Delhi, Jan 7-8, 2019 |
| List A debut | Gujarat v Maharashtra at Rajkot, Feb 27, 2014 |
| Last List A | Maharashtra v Vidarbha at Vadodara, Oct 17, 2019 |
| T20s debut | Gujarat v Maharashtra at Ahmedabad, Mar 17, 2013 |
| Last T20s | Maharashtra v Haryana at Surat, Nov 27, 2019 |
| IPL debut | vs Sunrisers Hyderabad at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Apr 23, 2016 |
| Last IPL | vs Delhi Capitals at Arun Jaitley Stadium, Mar 30, 2019 |
Batting Career Summary
| Mat | Inns | NO | Runs | HS | Ave | BF | SR | 100 | 50 | 4s | 6s | Ct | St | |
| First-class | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 1.5 | 23 | 13.04 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| List A | 27 | 24 | 3 | 684 | 78 | 32.57 | 715 | 95.66 | 0 | 5 | 47 | 26 | 29 | 5 |
| T20s | 50 | 43 | 13 | 899 | 95* | 29.96 | 701 | 128.24 | 0 | 6 | 59 | 41 | 26 | 7 |
| IPL | 3 | 3 | 0 | 30 | 22 | 10 | 47 | 63.83 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
A few interesting facts about Nikhil Naik –
- Despite being a Marathi and not knowing the Punjabi language, he loves and dances to Punjabi songs.
- He is fondly called the ‘Indian Russell’ by his mate in the Kolkata Knight Riders.
- He had a tough time before being able to rise to the top in the Cricket.
- He lost his mother to Paralysis in 2010.
- His father is a Fish merchant.
- His first-class debut came while playing for Maharashtra on 7 January 2019 in the Ranji Trophy.
- Ever since his beginning of playing Cricket, he was a neat wicket-keeper. Owing to his perfect wicket-keeping skills, he was noticed. This way, he was drafted into the U-15 Cricket Team of Maharashtra at a tender age of 12.
- He has appeared in Maharashtra’s all group-based sides. He has also been the Captain of the U-16 and U-19 Team and led to winning 2 National titles.
- Although he was a niche wicket-keeper, he struggled while batting and hitting 4s and 6s. He had to lose weight to concentrate on his batting. After losing some weight, he started improving and had no issues in hitting out of the ground shots.
- Before he began playing, he was a well off Tennis player. He had a name in the Tennis-ball region of Konkan. His way of hitting the Tennis ball made his father get him enrolled in the lone Cricket Academy of Maharashtra.
