Teja Nidamanuru

Teja Nidamanuru is a wonderful young man first of all and secondly, an outstanding Cricketer, born in India, raised in New Zealand but now based in The Netherlands. A tidy Right-arm off Spinner, he is a hard-hitting middle order batsman that has carved out an impressive cricket journey by never sitting still and fighting for everything he’s got, but he’s always been resilient, having essentially fended for himself since the age of 16 through circumstances beyond his control.

But through adversity, courage is born. Born in Vijayawada, India, Teja emigrated to New Zealand with his mother and when she had to return to India, he stayed in Auckland to finish school and worked tirelessly at his game, seeking out opportunities to play in England, with 2015 & 2016 stints with Lanchester CC in Durham and Stony Stratford CC in Northants respectively.

On his return to NZ in in 2015, he was selected for Auckland A and over the next couple of seasons he would be in and around the Aces top team, making half a dozen appearances. At the conclusion of the 2018/19 season, Teja sought out an opportunity to combine work and cricket in Holland and off he went.

Having remained in The Netherlands, he become classified as a local cricketer and was named in the Dutch ODI squad for their series against the West Indies in 2022. He made his ODI debut in that series and a little over a month later, was named in the Netherlands’ ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Global Qualifier tournament in Zimbabwe and had made his T20I debut against Papua New Guinea.

In March 2023, in the first ODI against Zimbabwe, Teja scored his maiden century in ODI cricket, 110 runs off 96 balls, securing a 3-wicket win for the Oranje. He backed this up with the fastest ODI in Dutch Cricket history, off 68 balls, against the West Indies in June 2023.

Selected for the 2023 ICC World Cup, Teja saved his best two performances for the last two games, with 41* (34) & 54 (39) against England & India, with six 6’s in his knock against the star-studded Hosts.

Seeking opportunities to play around the world, Teja will be not just a great pick up from a cricket perspective, he is also a good character to have around the dressing room.