New Delhi, May 7 (IANS): India-born cricketer Nikhil Chaudhary is likely to return to play for Hobart Hurricanes in the Big Bash League (BBL) after being found not guilty of raping a 20-year-old woman in a car in Townsville in 2021. Chaudhary, 27, stood trial in the District Court in Townsville, charged with one count of rape, and was declared not guilty by the jury. However, Cricket Tasmania on Tuesday confirmed to local reporters that they were not informed of the charge or court action.

Cricket Tasmania's high-performance general manager Salliann Beams told reporters that the legal process is still going on about Chaudhary and said he would likely play the upcoming season.

"(There are) some legalities through that process," reported ABC Sports. "It's not so much the incident because we know that nothing happened, legally not guilty and everything.

"It's just the disclosure of information. We want to know where we sit on that because we were completely in the dark."

Beams said it was disappointing that Chaudhary didn't inform Cricket Tasmania about the charges or court proceedings.

"You have to deal with the organisation's point of view and the impact that it could potentially have on that," she said. "Because you don't really want to associate yourself with that type of investigation.

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

Chaudhary played nine games last BBL season, averaging 26 with the bat and taking five wickets in a Hurricanes side that missed the finals. Chaudhary joined the franchise in late 2023 and had his deal extended to 2027 in February, the month before the trial.