Nikhil Chaudhary became the third India-born cricketer to play for Australia at the international level. The all-rounder was included in the Australia playing XI for the first T20I encounter against Bangladesh in Chattogram on Wednesday. Australia begin their T20I campaign after suffering a historic 1-2 ODI series loss against Bangladesh. Before Chaudhary, only Rex Sellars, who was born in Gujarat, and Lisa Sthalekar, who was born in Pune, played international cricket for Australia. Chaudhary was previously playing for JB Bruges in the EUT20 competition in Belgium after a stint with Delhi Capitals in the IPL.
Born in Delhi, Chaudhary played 14 limited-overs games for the state side Punjab alongside the likes of Harbhajan Singh, Shubman Gill and Abhishek Sharma, and trialled with the IPL side Mumbai Indians.
He was visiting an uncle in Queensland when the pandemic shut international borders, seeing him pivot to furthering his cricket ambitions in Australia.
The second T20I will take place on June 19, while the third and final match of the series is set to be played on June 21.
Australia selector Tony Dodemaide was confident the bowling all-rounder can perform well should he win selection.
“Nikhil has been a player of national interest for some time. He was a standby player for this tour, joining the squad at pre-season camps in Brisbane and comes in as a replacement for Travis Head,” Dodemaide said.
“The panel has been impressed by his BBL form, particularly last season, leading to his addition to the squad. He has also been part of the Delhi Capitals setup in this year’s IPL.
“Nikhil will gain invaluable experience in Bangladesh and will be in contention to play his first game for Australia when we sit down to pick a team for the opening T20 fixture here next week,” he added.
Australia T20I squad: Mitchell Marsh (c), Xavier Bartlett, Nikhil Chaudhary, Cooper Connolly, Tim David, Joel Davies, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Spencer Johnson, Matthew Kuhnemann, Riley Meredith, Josh Philippe, Matthew Renshaw, Adam Zampa.
(With IANS inputs)
