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Sangha surges into World Cup calculation

Despite not playing competitive cricket in almost 12 months, uncapped leg-spinner Tanveer Sangha has been picked for two crucial tours prior to the ODI World Cup

Young leg-spinner Tanveer Sangha has surged into World Cup calculations, today named in Australia's extended 18-player ODI squad ahead of the tournament starting in October.

The NSW and Sydney Thunder rising star has not played competitive cricket for almost 12 months owing to a stress-related lower-back injury suffered on the eve of last summer, however has been picked in the squad for a five-match ODI tour of South Africa and three-match tour of India.

Australia selectors have until September 28, the day following the third ODI in India, to trim the ODI squad down to 15 players, the maximum number allowed for the World Cup.

Alongside 21-year-old Sangha, Australia's other frontline spinners in the extended one-day squad are first-choice Adam Zampa, and Ashton Agar.

Should Australia take two frontline spinners to the World Cup as they did in 2019 (Zampa and Nathan Lyon), Sangha may have to edge out Agar for a ticket to the 2023 showpiece, although a spin trio may not be out of the equation on drier subcontinent wickets.

Long seen as an exciting spin prospect, Sangha's selection paves the way for an international debut after first being picked in an Australia squad for a T20 tour of New Zealand back in February-March 2021.

While he did not feature on that tour, selection for which was on the back of a breakout BBL|10 campaign, Sangha has since delivered further for the Thunder, taken 24 wickets in his first eight first-class matches, and impressed during a June 2022 Australia A squad tour of Sri Lanka.

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Selection chair George Bailey said Sangha had long been flagged for higher honours and signalled that the leg-spinner was in line to debut at some stage during the upcoming tours.

"He's been on our radar for a long time," Bailey said.

"His Big Bash form when he's been fit and playing has been excellent so he's one that we're really impressed with (his) character, the way he prepares and thinks about the game.

"The common comment around Tanveer is that he's very mature on the field and a great thinker about how he goes about it.

"He had an unfortunate injury last year which meant that he lost a bit of game time, but the age he is and the skillset he has I don't think that's going to set him back much. It's great that he's back fit and available to play, and looking forward to him getting some opportunities on this tour as well."

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Sangha last played top-flight cricket on August 30 last year, for Birmingham Phoenix in the UK Hundred.

In September 2022, after playing practice matches for NSW on the eve of the Marsh One-Day Cup, he felt something was not right when bowling.

"I was up in Coffs Harbour and I felt a bit of soreness and awareness, so I got a scan to check it out and see how bad it is," he told cricket.com.au months later.

"I just wanted to know if I could prioritise my match bowling and calm down a bit on training volume. But then I got the scan and it turned out to be much worse than I thought."

The injury saw him ruled out initially for "a few months", however that prognosis extended to the entire summer as he did not feature for NSW or Sydney Thunder across the 2022-23 season.

At the time Sangha predicted he had not spent more than a fortnight away from bowling in the previous eight years.

The 21-year-old has spent the past month in the US, as part of the Washington Freedom squad in the inaugural Major League Cricket season.

He replaced Sri Lankan leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga on the eve of the tournament, however did not feature in any matches for the franchise.

Australia's run to the ODI World Cup

2023 Qantas Tour of South Africa

September 7: First ODI, Bloemfontein (D/N), 9pm AEST

September 9: Second ODI, Bloemfontein (D/N), 9pm AEST

September 12: Third ODI, Potchefstroom (D/N), 9pm AEST

September 15: Fourth ODI, Centurion (D/N), 9pm AEST

September 17: Fifth ODI, Johannesburg, 6pm AEST

2023 Qantas Tour of India

September 22: First ODI, Mohali (D/N), 6pm AEST

September 24: Second ODI, Indore (D/N), 6pm AEST

September 27: Third ODI, Rajkot (D/N), 6pm AEST

Australia's 2023 ODI World Cup fixtures

October 8: v India, Chennai (D/N), 7.30pm AEDT

October 13: v South Africa, Lucknow (D/N), 7.30pm AEDT

October 16: v Sri Lanka, Lucknow (D/N), 7.30pm AEDT

October 20: v Pakistan, Bengaluru (D/N), 7.30pm AEDT

October 25: v Netherlands, Delhi (D/N), 7.30pm AEDT

October 28: v New Zealand, Dharamsala, 4pm AEDT

November 4: v England, Ahmedabad (D/N), 7.30pm AEDT

November 7: v Afghanistan, Mumbai (D/N), 7.30pm AEDT

November 12: v Bangladesh, Pune, 4pm AEDT

Australia ODI squad: Pat Cummins (c), Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Tanveer Sangha, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa
* To be trimmed to 15 for the ODI World Cup