The long cricketing arm of India reaches a fair distance. It graces the world with cricket, let's be honest, without India cricket wouldn't be what it is. In New Zealand, we not only have an Indian influence in the Black Caps but all throughout domestic cricket, Indian players are doing their thang. It doesn't matter whether these lads were born in India or NZ, that's irrelevant, these lads are doing their thang in the nation they have chosen.

Ish Sodhi, he's the most prominent. The leggie has moved through the grades of NZ cricket, representing various age group teams and being a staple on A tours and Winter Training Camps. Sodhi's from Auckland and repped the Jaffas through youth cricket before moving south to Northern Districts for greater opportunity. He's made the most of that move and has formed a dangerous gang of Indian brothers at the Knights, he's joined by Anurag Verma and Bharat Popli. In a weird little twist, Popli and Sodhi played club cricket in Auckland for a season or two as Popli tried his hand in Auckland before Sodhi moved to ND.

Popli is a highly talented batsmen and will be looking to have a big summer with the Knights. Both he and Verma should benefit from the Knights having a large group of players in the Black Caps, as Verma is a nifty right arm seam bowler who bowls at a good clip and can move the ball around a fair amount. Both lads could be presented with many opportunities this summer to make their mark on the domestic scene, Verma's been doing the rounds for a few years while Popli is just breaking in to the mix. 

Auckland is New Zealands hub of multi-culturalism with a large Indian population calling the City of Sails home. So it's no surprise that a few other Indian players around NZ come from Auckland and have decided to take up new opportunities throughout NZ. Ajaz Patel and Roneel Hira are both spinners who can wield the willow (Hira opened for Canterbury against Wellington most recently) and are both enjoying a fair amount of success. Hira is well known thanks to his stint with the Black Caps in the shorter formats and is a dynamo in every aspect of the game. A live wire in the field, a flashing batsmen and someone who is always in with a chance when he bowls his left arm spin, Hira made a good fist early on in his career with Auckland before moving to Canterbury. Patel is also relishing his opportunity with Central Districts Stags as one of their spin options and he's taken to first class cricket nicely picking up 15 wickets in his first season and 16 in his second.

Jeet Raval is one of my favourites. A stereotypical opener capable of long innings and stroke play all around the wicket, Raval is the anchor of Auckland's batting line up. Despite a stint with the Stags, Raval is enjoyed decent success with Auckland and he's my smokey to open the innings in test matches for the Black Caps. He'll have to continue to pile up the runs, but it's not far fetched. Since his debut in the 2008/09 season, Raval has knocked more than 300 runs each season, averaging over 40 in all but one of those seasons. Not bad huh?

Then there's Jeetan Patel. Do I need to say anything about Jeetz? Nah, he sells himself. 

The great thing about all these lads is that the are equally proud of their Indian heritage as they are of their identity as New Zealanders. I shouldn't really have to state this, but they fit in perfect to the cricketing culture in NZ thanks largely to having grown up in NZ and anyone who thinks that they are any less kiwi than the other cricketers, is dumb.