Tanveer Sangha: Australia’s Indian-origin youngster on the verge of creating history
Cricket Australia on Wednesday (January 27) announced their T20I squad for a five-match series against New Zealand. Aaron Finch will be leading in the series that is set to commence on February 22. However, what caught attention was the fact that a 19-year-old Indian-origin bowler Tanveer Sangha has been included in the T20I squad. Sangha created history by becoming the fourth Indian origin cricketer to don the Australian jersey.
Sangha’s journey has been pretty impressive so far. The youngster has been making waves in the ongoing Big Bash League edition. Plying his trade for Sydney Thunder, Sangha scalped 21 wickets in 14 games in his debut campaign. His leg-spin techniques have turned a lot of eyes and have been indicative of his serious talent.
Fawad Ahmed spotted talent in Sangha
The son of Indian immigrants in Sydney, Sangha caught the eye of Australian leg spinner, Fawad Ahmed. As per his bio on the official website of Cricket Australia, he started his journey as a pacer but discovered his skills as a leg spinner in his teenage times. After flaunting his class in Sydney club cricket, he quickly cemented his place into the under-age teams at state and international levels.
His potentials at club cricket led him clear his way into the Australian u-19 World Cup team, where he emerged as one of the leading wicket-takers. Sangha bagged 15 wickets for Australia, including two four-wicket hauls and a fifer by conceding just 14 runs, and it came against the Nigeria U-19 team.
The first match of the series will be played on February 22 in Christchurch, and the matches will take place in Dunedin, Auckland, Wellington, and Mount Maunganui.
Australia’s T20I squad:
Aaron Finch (c), Ashton Agar, Jason Behrendorff, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Ben McDermott, Riley Meredith, Josh Philippe, Kane Richardson, Jhye Richardson, Daniel Sams, Tanveer Sangha, D’Arcy Short, Marcus Stoinis, Ashton Turner, Andrew Tye, Matthew Wade, Adam Zampa
