Cricket Australia announced its 15-member squad for the T20I series against Bangladesh, which is scheduled to commence on June 17 in Chattogram next week. As the squad was announced for the upcoming T20I series, what caught everyone’s attention was Indian-born cricketer Nikhil Chaudhary, who has received Australia’s maiden call-up for the three-match series.
For the first time in history, since 1964, Cricket Australia has picked an Indian-born cricketer in its squad. Spin-bowling all-rounder Nikhil Chaudhary, who represented Hobart Hurricanes in the Big Bash League, has been picked in Australia’s T20I squad as an injury replacement for Ben Duckett. The last time an Indian player represented Australia was back in 1964 during a Test match in Kolkata, and his name was Rex Sellars, born in Gujarat.
“The panel has been impressed by his BBL form, particularly last season, leading to his addition to the squad,” selector Tony Dodemaide was quoted as saying.
“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.
Chaudhary was playing for JB Bruges in the EUT20 competition in Belgium. He was also part of the Delhi Capitals (DC) camp in the recently concluded IPL 2026. The 30-year-old will join the Aussies once the ODI series is concluded.
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Before Chaudhary, several Indian-origin players – Gurinder Singh and Tanveer Sangha have represented Australia, but they weren’t born in India. Whereas, talking about the Australian Women’s team, Lisa Sthalekar, who was born in Pune, made her debut for the Aussies in 2003, and played across all formats till 2013. Sthalekar is considered an all-time great in world cricket.
Who is Nikhil Chaudhary?
Nikhil Chaudhary, was born in Delhi and he has previously represented Punjab across 14 List A matches in India before his life took an unexpected turn. What began as a casual visit to his uncle in Queensland was prolonged indefinitely when the COVID-19 shutdown of 2020 brought the world to a standstill.
During his extended stay in Australia, he is said to have taken on various odd jobs, which includes working as a postman, before fate intervened in the form of former Australia all-rounder James Hopes, who spotted his potential and introduced him to local cricket. Notably, Hopes had also served as assistant coach of the Punjab Kings in the IPL.
Although Chaudhary is yet to obtain Australian citizenship, his status as a permanent resident means he fully satisfies the International Cricket Council’s eligibility criteria to represent his adopted country. He has since made the most of that opportunity as he played a key role for Hobart Hurricanes in their title winning BBL-14 campaign. He scored 307 runs at an average of 30.7 and an impressive strike-rate of 153. His opportunities with the ball, however, were somewhat restricted throughout the campaign, largely due to the presence of spin-bowling all-rounders Rehan Ahmed and Rishad Hossain within the squad.
Meanwhile, the Delhi-born cricketer also secured his first Tasmania state contract following an impressive debut Sheffield Shield season. He picked up a five-wicket haul against Queensland and a century versus New South Wales.
Australia T20I squad for Bangladesh series
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.
