Nikhil Chaudhary likely to return to Hobart Hurricanes after being acquitted of sex charges

A Hobart Hurricanes player acquitted of sex charges is ‘likely’ to return to the BBL franchise despite not informing Cricket Tasmania prior to his signing. Here’s why.

Nikhil Chaudhary signed on to play for the Hobart Hurricanes in November 2023. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

Hobart Hurricanes spinner Nikhil Chaudhary is “likely” to return to the BBL franchise this summer despite Cricket Tasmania’s high performance boss admitting they were disappointed to not be informed of police charges and an impending court case prior to his signing.

Chaudhary fronted a Townsville court in March after being charged with one count of rape, a charge he was found not guilty of while also being found not guilty of the alternative charge of sexual assault.

It was alleged that the Big Bash cricketer assaulted a woman in his vehicle on Townsville’s nightclub strip in May 2021.

Chaudhary failed to inform Cricket Tasmania of the incident or the impending trial upon his signing to the BBL franchise in November 2023.

Speaking on Tuesday as a part of the announcement of the organisation’s domestic contract list for next season, Salliann Beams said it was disappointing but also understood the situation from Chaudhary’s perspective.

“Still internal processes going through that (if he will play this season) … but I would say likely that would be the case, yeah,” Beams said.

Nikhil Chaudhary was found not guilty in a Townsville Court in March. Picture: Evan Morgan

“We know that nothing happened, you know, legally not guilty and everything. It’s just the disclosure of information that we want to know where we sit on that because we were completely in the dark.

“It’s disappointing because you have to deal with the organisation’s point of view and then the impact that it could potentially have on that because you don’t really want to associate yourself with, you know, that type of investigation.

“But at the same time, you can understand that from the players’ point of view is that, you know, they’ve done nothing wrong and it’s a scary place and, you know, legally advised not to say anything so you’re always balancing different sides of the story.”

After making his desire clear that he wanted to also receive a domestic cricket contract, Beams confirmed the court case and lack of transparency had no impact on Chaudhary not being signed as a Tasmanian Tigers player for the upcoming season.

Chaudhary is currently contracted to the Hurricanes until 2027 after a breakout summer in purple.