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Last Updated: August 25, 2023, 15:24 IST
Tanveer Sangha. (Credit: Twitter)
With only five List-A appearances to his name, uncapped Tanveer Sangha was selected over Mitchell Swepson and Matt Kunhemann for Australia’s ODI World Cup squad.
Tanveer Sangha’s call-up to Australia’s 18-man squad for the ODI World Cup scheduled later this year has left several people scratching their heads. The 21-year-old bowler has not played professional cricket for nearly a year. He spent the entire 2022/23 summer in the casualty ward. With only five List-A appearances to his name, uncapped Sangha was selected over Mitchell Swepson and Matt Kunhemann.
Both Swepson and Kunhemann had represented Australia in white-ball cricket last year but somehow fell behind Sangha in the pecking order. Sangha’s selection could also be credited to the fact that he was among the leading wicket-takers in the U-19 World Cup in 2020. He had 15 scalps in six games with two four-wicket hauls and a fifer.
Australian stand-in skipper, Mitchell March told reporters (via FoxSports) this week, “He’s [Tanveer Sangha] got me out a couple of times. I’ve heard he’s a very quick learner and just bowls and bowls and bowls.” Sangha is faster than a traditional leg-spinner. He relentlessly targets the stumps, suffocating batters on the crease. His consistency has established him as a reliable arsenal in the middle overs of ODI cricket.
Tanveer Sangha was born and raised in Sydney. He was a natural athlete in his youth and a brilliant performer in multiple sports. His parents wanted him to pursue a volleyball career, but Sangha had his eyes set on cricket. Sangha soon realised that he just did not have the required height or speed to become a great pace bowler. This forced him to turn his attention to leg-spin during his teens. The Aussie-spinner honed his craft by watching video tutorials from YouTube and in a few years, he was already representing his country at the Under-16 level.
Tanveer Sangha is only the fourth player of Indian origin to be selected in the Australian squad. The other names include the likes of Gurinder Sandhu, Stuart Clark and Bransby Cooper. Sangha has mostly made an impact in T20 cricket for Syndey Thunders. He scalped 21 wickets in the Big Bash League of 2020-21. In the following season, he picked up another 16-wicket haul. Sangha missed out the majority of the last year due to a stress fracture in his back.
ICC regulations prescribe that all squads for the World Cup must be finalised before September 28. Australia are set to take on the hosts, India, in their first game of the marquee tournament on October 8 in Chennai.
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