On Thursday, June 11, Australia announced their squad for Bangladesh T20Is, giving a maiden call-up to Nikhil Chaudhary, an India-born all-rounder. Chaudhary has been named in the squad replacing Travis Head, who has been rested. In case Nikhil Chaudhary gets a match in the series, he will become the first Indian-born man to play for the Aussies in more than 60 years. Thus far, three Indian-born cricketers have represented Australia across men’s and women’s contests. Those three cricketers were Lisa Sthalekar, Bransby Cooper, and Rex Sellers.

While Sellers was a part of the 1964 Test in Calcutta, Sthalekar enjoyed a distinguished international career with the women’s team. Apart from them, Australia have fielded several players of Indian heritage in recent years, including Gurinder Sandhu and Tanveer Sangha. Ever since he moved to the Land Down Under, Chaudhary made a great impact in Australian domestic cricket since moving there during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Australia selector Tony Dodemaide talked about Chaudhary and said, "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 coming in as a replacement for Travis Head.” "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,” he was quoted as saying to ESPNCricinfo.

"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.

Who is Nikhil Chaudhary? India-born all-rounder who received maiden call-up for Australian squad

Born in Delhi, the 30-year-old played domestic cricket for Punjab from 2017 to 2019. He moved to the Island nation in 2020 to visit family before international borders were closed due to the outbreak of coronavirus. Nikhil chose to stay in the country and since then, built a strong career through grade cricket, state cricket, and the Big Bash League. To support himself, Nikhil did several jobs including as a postal delivery worker as well as at a Mexican restaurant.

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Things changed for him after former Australia all-rounder James Hopes, who was then coaching Northern Suburbs in Queensland, recommended him to Hobart Hurricanes. Ever since he arrived in Tasmania, Chaudhary has established himself as a valuable all-rounder, who is known for his aggressive batting, leg-spin bowling and celebrations. He is coming off a productive domestic season, where he helped his side lift the BBL title. Chaudhary scored 307 runs in the campaign at an average of 30.70 and a strike rate of 153.

Here’s Australia’s squad for Bangladesh T20Is

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