Born and brought up in Sydney, mystery wrist spinner Sangha hails from an Indian family that migrated from Punjab’s Jalandhar in the 1990s.
His father, Joga, who initially went Down Under for education, works as a taxi driver. His mother Upneet is an accountant. Sangha is the fourth Indian-origin player to be selected for Australia after Gurinder Sandhu, Stuart Clark and Bransby Cooper.
Sangha, 21, has mostly cut his teeth in T20 cricket for Sydney Thunder and has played just five List A games.
In the 2020-2021 Big Bash League, Sangha scalped 21 wickets. The next season he picked up 16 wickets. He missed most of last year with a stress fracture of the back.
Sangha was one of 2020 Under-19 World Cup’s leading wicket-takers with 15 scalps in six games with two four-wicket hauls and a five-wicket haul.
Under ICC regulations, squads must be finalised prior to September 28, with Australia’s first game at this year’s World Cup coming against hosts India in Chennai on October 8.
Captain Pat Cummins will be racing against the clock to be fit for that opening contest, after it was revealed the fast bowler picked up a fractured wrist during the recent Ashes series against England.
Cummins has been advised to let the injured area rest for six weeks and the right-armer is hoping to return to playing prior to the commencement of the World Cup.
Australia will prepare for the World Cup with a five-match series against South Africa next month and the likes of Tanveer will be given the chance to impress during those matches. In Cummins’ absence, Mitchell Marsh will lead Australia in the T20 series in South Africa.
While Tanveer has been a part of previous T20I tours for Australia, he is yet to win a debut and could be another spin option alongside Ashton Agar and Adam Zampa on the spin-friendly Indian pitches sides are expected to encounter.
Australia ODI squad: Pat Cummins (captain), Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Tanveer Sangha, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa