Q&A: First-year Amrinder Gill discusses his balance between engineering and professional cricket

First-year Amrinder Gill spoke with The Brown and White about his cricket career, his goals and how he balances playing professionally and completing his civil engineering degree.

Q: What was it like for you to grow up in Bethlehem, attending a local high school, then decide to come to Lehigh?

Coming to Bethlehem was a culture shock for me. I lived in India until 2019 because my dad relocated here. There weren’t many cricket clubs that I could join near me, so my dad put me in a cricket club in New Jersey. 

Once I got to high school, I started taking academics seriously and had cricket on the side. I also played volleyball all four years of high school, which has been such a great experience for me to be on another team. I ended up at Lehigh through early decision because it’s 15 minutes away from my house, so I can commute easily, and the engineering program is exactly what I was looking for.

Q: How did you learn how to play cricket? Did you know you wanted to pursue it professionally early on?

When I was young in India, there was a playground in front of my house where my friends and I would play cricket. Once I got older, there was a summer camp at my school where I started playing. At the end of the camp, my dad spoke to a coach, and I was recommended for a club team. From there, I began to like the sport more and more, and my dad helped me get involved with more teams and practices to help me get better.

Q: Once you decided to commit to cricket and become more serious with the sport, how did you get involved in playing more?

When I was 15, there were tryouts for the U.S.,Under-19 World Cup team in New Jersey. I got a call from a coach who wanted me to try out, and I made the conference team. But I couldn’t go to a lot of the competitions, so I got cut from the team. I knew I wanted to try out again in the next cycle because my dad supported me and knew I should take it seriously. 

I was able to make the team again because I’d also been playing on a domestic club team throughout high school, so my skills were better when I tried out again.

Q: What does your schedule look like, balancing cricket with a civil engineering degree?

Because I live at home, it’s much easier for me to balance the travel I do for my club team and the U.S. team. I usually go to my classes on weekdays, but I miss a few days of class here and there for cricket. On the weekends, I travel to places like Albany, New Jersey and Atlanta for big tournaments. 

Every few months, I travel internationally or whenever the U.S. team has a tournament, especially to South Africa. We went to South Africa last December in my first tournament with the U.S. team, and we won the finals in the tournament. 

Q: What is your goal in terms of your cricket career?

I definitely want to play cricket as much as I can professionally once I graduate, but right now my main focus has to be to keep playing for the U.S. and finish my degree so I can have a career if cricket stops or doesn’t work out. It’s really hard to be a pro(fessional) in cricket, so you need a backup plan. 

Q: Cricket is coming back to the Olympics in 2028. Do you have any aspirations to compete with the U.S.?

Competing for the U.S. in the Olympics is a dream of mine, it’s a massive achievement for anybody. The past few weeks, my coaches have been in touch with me about camps and tryouts that will happen soon. Unfortunately, there’s a lack of cricket facilities in New York, so there will likely be a rescheduled camp in Colorado. 

I’m still very young, so I’m working on playing in a minor league right now until it gets closer to 2028. If I do well in the minor leagues, I’ll hopefully get called up to play for the Olympic U.S. team. Even being on the team as a backup would be huge for me to learn and gain experience from professionals.