From Andhra Pradesh to Auckland to Amsterdam - Teja Nidamanuru's journey to the World Cup

The smell of tomato pappu (a type of dal) elicits a child-like excitement in Teja Nidamanuru. He has had a long day of training in Bengaluru, surprisingly hot for late August, and is craving spicy Indian food for dinner. It's a giveaway to where in India his roots are.

Nidamanuru, 29, comes from Vijayawada in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, known for the heat of its cuisine, and is currently in the country to represent Netherlands at the World Cup. When he takes the field in their tournament opener against Pakistan in Hyderabad on October 6, his family will be watching him play for the first time.

His maternal grandmother, who he says has promised to make him loads of pappu, will be among those in attendance. It will herald a new chapter in an eventful journey that has taken him to Auckland, Amsterdam and Harare.

On a hot June afternoon in the Zimbabwean capital at the World Cup Qualifiers earlier this year, he unleashed carnage on West Indies' bowlers, scoring a 76-ball 111 from No. 5 - the fastest ODI hundred for Netherlands - to help his side force a tie in their steep chase of 375, before Logan van Beek's heroics in the Super Over sealed a sensational win to all but confirm their World Cup ticket.

"It's surreal to even just be sitting here and talking of playing in a World Cup," Nidamanuru says as he sips piping hot rasam. In part that might be because moving to Netherlands wasn't part of his plan when he first arrived in the country in the summer of 2019 to play club cricket.

Nidamanuru had been living in Auckland, a city he moved to as an six-year-old when his mother took up a job there as a dialysis technician. After school he completed a double major in sports management and marketing, while also playing cricket.

He made his List A debut for Auckland in 2018, having played age-group cricket alongside current New Zealand internationals Mark Chapman, Colin Munro, Lockie Ferguson and Glenn Phillips. But when Nidamanuru couldn't break into the ranks of New Zealand's domestically contracted players, he looked for opportunities elsewhere. That was when an agent helped him sign with the Kampong Cricket Club in Utrecht.

"I'd finished my six-month stint in Utrecht and was in India on a short visit to see family en route to Auckland when I received a call that changed my life," Nidamanuru says.

"It was from someone I'd met through a common connection. I later found out he was an amateur club cricketer who I'd played against in Amsterdam. He happened to be the CEO of a company called StrateX. During a casual conversation after one of our games, I'd told him of my education background and where I come from. He'd asked for my CV and I'd sent it over to him out of courtesy.

"So here he was now on the phone, and he's like, 'Are you happy to work in Netherlands?' I had been exploring different avenues since I wasn't a contracted domestic cricketer in New Zealand, so I said yes, ditched my onward journey to New Zealand and booked a flight back to Amsterdam once my work papers came through."

It's a strange quirk of fate in a way that a skilled worker visa, and not a sports visa, has helped Nidamanuru fuel his cricket dream in the Netherlands. Work, he says, was an outlet to give himself a safety net and secure himself financially before he went back to cricket.

"Now I've gained valuable experience in a start-up environment, having worn multiple hats," he says. "It's given me life experience.

"It's nothing related to sports marketing, but it is only because of my educational degree that I've made my way into the Dutch team. Once I got a taste of it, I thought, 'Maybe I can play international cricket.' The road to it has been hard but today, it feels worth it."

Nidamanuru gets teary reminiscing about the sacrifices his mother made for the family. "My mum's had a tough life. She brought me up as a single mother, but because of her own challenges, she returned to India. I've been living in New Zealand on my own from the age of 16.

"I had to mature at a very young age. I was sharing a flat with someone at the age of 16, paying my own bills, I had a part-time job. I had to find a way to survive. Fortunately, I had friends who were like family. Had they not insisted I study, I wouldn't be here."

Nidamanuru qualified for Netherlands selection in May last year, and he struck an impressive half-century on debut in an ODI against West Indies. In the period between settling in the country and trying to fulfil qualification criteria, he made his way up to the premier division, where a hundred against a team coached by former Netherlands captain Pieter Seelaar turned heads.

"After that game, I spoke to Pieter of a desire to play for Netherlands if an opportunity came up," Nidamanuru says. "He spoke to Ryan Campbell [head coach at the time] and got me involved with the group. He invited me for winter training in 2021, where I played alongside Bas de Leede, Scott Edwards, Max O'Dowd, who I knew from New Zealand as he'd also migrated there with his family when he was young. In a way, I knew most of the guys before my senior team debut, so that helped."

As his cricket took off, Nidamanuru found himself having to juggle work, which invariably led to long days, sometimes lasting 16 or 17 hours. He says a laptop is his companion at all times. It's even present on our table during the interview.

Two months ago the Netherlands Cricket Board (KNCB) offered him an opportunity to work in administration for them. That has allowed him "better balance", he says, for the board understands the effort that goes into training to play international cricket. He currently has two contracts: a playing retainer, and another for his administrative job, which enables him to live in Netherlands.

"In Netherlands currently, there are just three of them who make a living out of the game," he says. "I'm on a summer contract as far as my cricket goes, which offers a retainer for five months. It covers fuel expenses, travel and a few meals, but isn't enough to make a living. That's why a lot of Dutch guys go to England to play county cricket. Paul van Meekeren, Roelof van der Merwe, Colin Ackermann, de Leede - they all have contracts.

"Cricket in Netherlands needs a boost, the structures need to grow. I've now come on board to lead their cricket performance, look at things from a strategic aspect and develop strategies to grow the sport, develop pathways and work alongside the high-performance manager and CEOs. Being a player gives me an overview of everything - it allows me to contribute in different ways."

On the field, Nidamanuru swears by a philosophy called S.O.U.L, which he believes is slowly becoming the team's World Cup buzzword. "It stands for: Selflessness, Ownership, Unity, Learning. All of us are as passionate about the game, as you guys are in India or anywhere else.

"You may call it Associate cricket, [but] for us, it's as important a game as we'll ever play. In Associate cricket, something is always on the line when we play, whether it's a qualifier or a bilateral. That's the type of culture we've tried to create over the past year, from the T20 World Cup campaign in Australia. We're very proud of how everyone works with the little resources we have. We've been able to achieve significant results despite that, and we want to do it more consistently now."

Nidamanuru's immediate goal is the World Cup, for which he's been "training like mad". Indulgences, like gorging on rich Indian food, as he is when we speak, are rare. He draws inspiration from the physical regimen of players like Virat Kohli. "That kind of commitment is the difference between good and great, I guess," he says.

"I'm ready to do anything in my capacity to help Netherlands win. I definitely want to go out and have a World Cup to remember. I hope it's the start of something big in Netherlands. We've also made it through to the T20 World Cup in West Indies and USA next year. It just shows how much one can achieve with commitment."

As we wind up our chat, Nidamanuru is offered a tempting assortment of desserts by the restaurant staff. "Nah, I'm good, thanks," he says.

"Discipline, discipline! I'm staying back in India after the World Cup to visit family back in Vijayawada. I'll gorge on them then. For now, I can't wait to get started."