India, Feb. 9 -- "Chalo! Hum Hindi mein baat karenge (let's talk in Hindi)." One won't get to hear that line often ahead of an interview with an Italian cricketer. But Jaspreet Singh has neither forgotten the language or connection with his home town Phagwara, Punjab, despite moving to Bergamo 22 years ago as a 10-year-old with his parents.

The early days in Italy were not precisely smooth as his father Tirath Singh and mother Jasvir Kaur had to settle down in an unfamiliar town as factory workers. "It was a big day for my family when we got the chance to migrate to Italy. But we were a bit anxious too as it was a new country, new language and new culture.

Everything was new for us. But I was thinking about how to play cricket which I u...