Australia add Tanveer Sangha to T20I squad for India series as Zampa's cover

Cricket Australia has added leg spinner, Tanveer Sangha, to Australia’s T20I squad for the upcoming five-match series against India starting Wednesday (Oct 29) in Canberra. In the absence of premier spinner Adam Zampa, who will miss the start of the series to be with his pregnant wife, Sangha shall be considered for selection. As Zampa’s wife, Harriet, is expecting her second child, Australia’s T20I highest wicket-taker will miss the beginning of this marquee series. Zampa also missed the first ODI in Perth due to travel distances involved before playing the second game in Adelaide, where he won the Player of the Match award.

Sangha, 23, who represents Sydney Thunder in the Big Bash League, has seven appearances for Australia but hasn’t featured since late 2023. On his debut against the Proteas, the right-arm leggie picked up four for 31.
Recently, he picked up seven wickets in the three One-Day matches for Australia A against India A, and currently leads the wickets tally in the One-Day Cup with 10 scalps in four games for New South Wales.

Should the conditions assist on the east coast, Sangha shall play alongside the left-arm orthodox Matthew Kuhnemann in the T20I series.

Meanwhile, Australia will shuffle plenty of players for the five-match series for various reasons. While now recovered veteran all-rounder Glenn Maxwell and seamer Ben Dwarshuis return to the T20I side for the latter stage, fellow quicks Josh Hazlewood and Sean Abbott will both miss the back-end of the T20I series to honour Sheffield Shield commitments.

Hazlewood, who dazzled in the Adelaide ODI for bowling perhaps the best non-wicket-taking spell in recent One-Day history, shall play just the first two matches and Abbot, who continues to recover from the split webbing in his hand, will leave Australia’s squad after the third T20I.

On the other hand, Mahli Beardman, the uncapped rookie seamer, is a surprise call to the side for the final three games, as the hosts work on finding the best squad ahead of next year’s T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka.

Australia T20I squad vs India -

Mitchell Marsh (captain), Sean Abbott (first three matches only), Xavier Bartlett, Mahli Beardman (last three games only), Tim David, Ben Dwarshuis (final two matches only), Nathan Ellis, Josh Hazlewood (first two matches only), Glenn Maxwell (last three ties only), Travis Head, Josh Inglis (wk), Matthew Kuhnemann, Mitchell Owen, Josh Philippe (wk), Matthew Short, Marcus Stoinis and Adam Zampa