Jaskirat Singh (Jason) Sangha will become the first Indian-origin cricketer to lead Australian national side in the ICC Under-19 World Cup after he was named the skipper of their U-19 squad for the tournament to be held in New Zealand next month.
Sangha, whose father Kuldeep moved Down Under in 1980s, was also part of the preliminary Australian squad named for the 2016 edition of the World Cup in Bangladesh. But the Aussies withdrew from the tournament due to security reasons.
He, however, went on to represent the U-19 team in Youth ODIs against Pakistan and New Zealand the same year and this year became the youngest player in New South Wales cricket history to be awarded a state rookie contract.
“It is an honour to lead your country in such a tournament. It is something I had dreamt about. I could have been in the U-19 Australian team for the last World Cup in Bangladesh at 16. Hopefully, we will fare well in New Zealand as we have a balanced unit which has been playing together for a long time now,” Sangha told the Hindustan Times.
More recently the 18-year-old became the youngest cricketer since Sachin Tendulkar to score a first-class century when the middle-order batsman held his own against the likes of Stuart Broad, Chris Woakes and Moeen Ali to score a 226-ball 113 for Cricket Australia XI in a tour game against the visitors.
Former Australian skipper Steve Waugh, whose son is also part of the squad, was among the first to inform and congratulate his parents about the ton and Kuldeep insists that the 52-year-old has been following his son’s career for long.
“Austin Waugh plays for Sutherland Cricket Club and we would often meet him (Steve) during representative cricket matches. Sometimes, we would have dinner together and he’s always appreciated Jason’s game. And he congratulated us after his century against England. Jason even has some caps signed by Steve Waugh and he treasures them,” Kuldip told the Indian Express.
Waugh, though, is not the first former Australian skipper to praise Sangha. It was former skipper and Cricket Australia’s national talent manager Greg Chappell who noticed his talent and pushed him for his first grade debut back in 2015.
Param Uppal also makes the grade
Apart from Sangha, 18-year-old all-rounder Param Uppal would be the other Indian origin play in the squad.
Explaining his journey to the national squad, Uppal’s father Devinder Singh said, “We shifted to Australia in 2003 and I would often talk about cricket with my friends here. We would discuss matches and would watch matches together at home. Param would sit with us and watch Sachin Tendulkar.
Perhaps that’s why he also picked up bowling spin, watching the legend bowl his assortment of off-breaks and leggies. In 2015, when he captained the NSW Combined Team to England, he met Steve Smith in Cardiff during the Ashes Test and often seeks tips from him where they train together for NSW,” the 47-year-old senior Uppal, who hails from Mohali and works in the Railways Transport department in Sydney, told the Indian Express.
