Tanveer Sangha, the India born spinner paves his way straight into the Australian squad for New Zealand tour.
There were times when First-Class cricket used to get emerging players call-ups for the senior teams but now, franchise-based T20 leagues are playing a crucial role in helping cricket boards to find local talents.
On Wednesday, Australia named an Indian-origin spinner in their T20I squad for the New Zealand tour, having been impressed with his performance in the Big Bash League. Sangha, who played for the Sydney Thunder in the BBL, was able to achieve the third position in the list of wicket-takers this season at the end of the group stage.
Sangha has conceded runs at an average of 8.04 which is fine considering the nature of the pitches in Australia but has also bagged some great dismissals of in the form of Australian stars like Aaron Finch, Peter Handcomb and Chris Lynn.
But, this spinner has a humbling background. Born 20 kms away from Jalandhar in Punjab, India, Tanveer came to Australia with his father Joga at a very young age. His father worked as a taxi driver in Sydney.
In an interview with Tanveer’s father, he said, “I never watched cricket in India. I played kabaddi, volleyball and wrestling. Here, we have those tournaments (wrestling) in winters and Tanveer would often accompany me and play in the junior bouts”. Mr. Sangha also added, “When he was ten years old, we got him enrolled in the Ingleburn RSL Club to play cricket. I picked up and dropped Tanveer from our home in Ingleburn to the club and that meant I had to skip some of my taxi rides and work early morning or late at night.”
Tanveer credits his parents for encouraging him to do what he liked, which was to play cricket. “My dad was a really sporty person, so he trained with me at a young age. Best mate I could’ve asked for. Even my mother wasn’t too harsh on me. They didn’t put a lot of pressure on me to study, so I could enjoy what I was doing,” he says.
Tanveer also advices all the parents out there, not to put any pressure on their children and encourage them to pursue sport if they are interested in it. He feels this will help them to succeed just like how he is making a mark in Australian cricket.
The young spinner watched the bowling of Shane Warne and Indian spinner Yuzvendra Chahal on YouTube. Many have labelled him the ‘true heir’ to Australia’s GOAT spinner Nathan Lyon. Anthony Clark, the development coach at Cricket New South Wales, has also been full of praise for the youngster having mentored him since his U-16 days
Sangha didn’t quite fancy cricket while growing up and rather took volleyball sessions at a local Gurudwara. He gradually began playing cricket and soon learned certain tricks that made him famous in his school. In 2020, Sangha also got the opportunity to interact with Nathan Lyon, from whom he learned a few strategies of dismissing batsmen. The lad from Jalandhar also got to bowl to Steve Smith before getting a fine mentor in the form of Moises Henriques who truly helped him to shape-up.
Hope he will debut in Australia’s upcoming New Zealand series and play a significant and crucial role for the Aussies.