Over a three-decade career, Nilesh Mehta, M.D., has helped hundreds of patients facing a range of cancer diagnoses, including multiple kinds of solid tumors as well as blood cancer, such as leukemia. While innovative, personalized cancer care is his life’s calling, outside of the clinic he has a unique passion: the sport of cricket.
“When I'm at work, it is 100% oncology. Obviously, every doctor wants to do the best for every patient and I'm no exception,” says Dr. Mehta, a medical oncologist at City of Hope® Cancer Center Phoenix. “But writing about cricket or doing cricket commentary are cathartic for me, and that actually helps me focus even more in the clinic.”
An accredited cricket journalist who writes and commentates on international tournaments, Dr. Mehta developed a love of the game as a child.
“My father was a member of the management committee for our local cricket association in my hometown in India,” he recalls. “At one point, there were three or four players from my town on the national Indian team, and because of my father’s role, I would go with him as an 8- or 9-year-old and hang out with the who's who of Indian cricket at that time.”
While the sport has remained a lifelong passion, Dr. Mehta recognizes the importance of balancing his sporting endeavors with his vocation as a physician. This article covers:
- Dr. Mehta’s Commitment to Fighting Cancer
- A Passion for Cricket
- Combining Cricket and the Clinic
- Life in the Commentator’s Box
- Balancing Dual Interests
If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with cancer and are looking for a second opinion, call us 24/7 at 855-415-5582.
Dr. Mehta’s Commitment to Fighting Cancer
Dr. Mehta joined City of Hope Phoenix in 2018 after a career in medical oncology that has spanned more than 30 years. His clinical care is founded on compassion and bringing an individual approach to each patient.
“I offer personalized treatment plans for patients facing a variety of cancer types and blood disorders,” he says. “My main objective is to use my knowledge about the disease to educate and guide my patients in a direction that meets their individualized needs and goals.”
After earning his medical degree at Maharaja Sayajirao University in Baroda, India, Dr. Mehta pursued his internal medicine residency at Louis A. Weiss Memorial Hospital in Chicago, where he was chief resident, and a fellowship in medical oncology and hematology at the University of Chicago.
“After I came to the United States, of course, I dedicated my time to doing my internal medicine and oncology boards and to getting my career started,” he says. “But all that time, one of my desires was to do something in the field of cricket.”
A Passion for Cricket
Growing up, Dr. Mehta was surrounded by passionate fans and professional players of India’s favorite sport.
“One or two of the most famous cricketers who played for India actually lived literally next door to my grade school and high school,” he says. “So, after school was over, I would go to their homes, hang out, talk cricket and look at their bats, kits and gloves.”
In his spare time, Dr. Mehta would read the local newspaper’s cricket coverage. When he spotted an error, he would contact the reporter, who, unbeknownst to him, was a member of the same cricket association as Dr. Mehta’s father.
“This reporter just ran into my dad once and said, who is this Nilesh Mehta — he has the same last name as you? Any idea?” Dr. Mehta laughs. “He's really looking deep into my columns and finding appropriate errors and doing a good job. My dad said: Guess what? He's my son!”
Combining Cricket and the Clinic
After settling into his career in the Chicagoland area, Dr. Mehta sought out opportunities to pursue his sporting passion. First, he passed the required exams to become a cricket umpire and then a scorer in India. But it was his writing in the medical field that led him to become a part-time sports journalist.
“I used to write a medical column in one of the newspapers in Chicago called ‘Real Patients, Real Stories,’” he explains. “I did that column for a few years and then it kind of dawned on me: I need to start doing something related to cricket.”
He contacted an editor at Hi India, a newspaper based in the United States that delivers a Southeast Asian and Indian perspective on global news stories and offered to produce contributions covering the world of cricket.
The editor agreed and, in 2009, Dr. Mehta applied for and received media privileges from the International Cricket Council (ICC) — the world’s governing body for the game — “and I’ve been an ICC-accredited correspondent ever since.”
Life in the Commentator’s Box
Perhaps most thrilling has been the opportunity to be an official commentator for international cricketing events — something Dr. Mehta first pursued nearly 15 years ago. To date, he has been a commentator on two cricket World Cup wins for India — one in 2011 and a second in June 2024.
“I was at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados, where the finals between India and South Africa were held,” he recalls. “One of the cricketers by the name of Suryakumar Yadav took a stunning catch right underneath the commentary booth that led to India winning the World Cup. Everybody was jumping with joy.”
Most of Dr. Mehta’s commentating adventures have taken place in the Caribbean for Cricket360, the International Cricket Council’s telecast of cricket news and highlights.
“Whenever the Indian team would visit the West Indies, a few radio outlets would invite me to be the ‘Indian voice’ for the India-versus-West Indies matches,” he explains. “But I've also done commentary in Fort Lauderdale at the Broward County Cricket stadium and been to the Queen's Park Oval in Trinidad, which is where a lot of the rivalry between India and the West Indies existed back in the 1970s.”
Balancing Dual Interests
According to Dr. Mehta, finding time for a passion outside of work does not detract from his commitment to fighting cancer — in fact, it plays a key role in maintaining a work-life balance.
“My whole life is dedicated to being an oncologist, but it's important for people to realize that this is a profession that involves a lot of decision-making, often about life and death and about treatment options,” he explains. “A lot of emotion goes into taking care of patients and there's a definite connection that happens with the patient.”
This makes it even more important for physicians who do lifesaving work to also have space to breathe and an outlet for their passions. And Dr. Mehta goes beyond cricket to include another Indian pastime in his personal life: the game of carrom. Carrom is a tabletop sport in which players must use their hands to flick black or white wooden coins into pockets on a board, a little like a miniature game of pool.
In addition to being a fan. Dr. Mehta adds: “I am the 2013 U.S. doubles national carrom champion.” He also offered commentary on the sixth Carrom World Cup held in San Jose, California, in 2024.
While cricket and carrom are passionate pastimes, Dr. Mehta recognizes the role they play in supporting his career as a cancer fighter.
“It's a profession that involves a lot of mental tension and, for me, playing carrom or doing cricket commentating are in many ways a catharsis,” Dr. Mehta says. “And in that way, they have really helped me build my oncology career and given me a tremendous work-life balance after a career of over three decades.”
If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with cancer and are looking for a second opinion, call us 24/7 at 855-415-5582.