5 Indian Origin Cricketers Who Have Represented Australia

Over the years, we have seen a lot of Indian origin players, who have represented different countries at the International level. The players or their families have migrated to other countries due to educational, work, or other purposes. The likes of Nasser Hussain, KS Ranjitsinhji, Ish Sodhi, Monty Panesar, and Shivnarine Chanderpaul are some of the examples.

In this article, we will look at five Indian-origin cricketers to have represented Australia at any level of the sport:

Lisa Sthalekar

Lisa Sthalekar was named Laila at birth. She was born in Pune, Maharashtra on 13 August 1979. She was adopted by Haren and Sue Sthalekar from Sreevatsa, an orphanage center in Pune. Lisa was introduced to cricket by her father in backyard games. She went on to become the first woman cricketer to score 1,000 runs and take 100 wickets in ODIs.

Lisa announced her retirement from international cricket a day after the Australian team won the 2013 Women’s Cricket World Cup. In 2020, she was inducted into the ICC Hall of fame.

Arjun Nair

Arjun Nair is an Indian-origin mystery spinner who plays for New South Wales. He was born on 12 April 1998 in Canberra, Australia. Arjun made his first-class debut in an FC match in 2016 against South Australia, where he took two wickets and contributed valuable 37 runs batting lower down the order.

Arjun has also represented the Australian team at the U-19 level. He is part of the He is  Sydney Thunder squad in the Big Bash League. Arjun is known in the Australian cricketing circuit for his different bowling variations.

Jason Jaskirat Singh Sangha

Jason Sangha was born on September 8, 1999, in New South Wales. He led the Australian team in the 2018 ICC U19 World Cup. He was the leading run-scorer for Australia in the tournament, with 229 runs.

Sangha’s father Kuldip was a native of Bhatinda in Punjab. He moved to Australia in the 1980s for higher education. Jason made his first-class debut in 2017 for Cricket Australia against England and became the second-youngest player to score a first-class century against England.

Gurinder Singh Sandhu

Gurinder Sandhu was the first male cricketer of Indian ancestry to represent Australia in an international tournament. He was born on June 14, 1993, at Blacktown in New South Wales. His parents are from Faridkot district, Punjab and then migrated to Australia.

Sandhu made his debut against India at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in 2015. He has picked three wickets in two ODI matches for Australia. Sandhu was also part of the Delhi Daredevils team in the Indian Premier League 2015 season.

Tanveer Sangha

Tanveer Sangha was the second person of Indian origin to be selected in the Australian men’s senior cricket team. He was the highest wicket-taker for Australia at the 2020 Under-19 World Cup with 15 wickets at an average of 11.46 and an economy rate of 3.58.

Tanveer was born on 26 November 2001 in Sydney, Australia. His father Joga Sangha, hails from Jalandhar and moved to Australia in 1997 for education and eventually settled there. Tanveer plays for  Sydney Thunder in the Big Bash League (BBL).