"He was in the gym when he found out" - Mitchell Marsh on Tanveer Sangha's eleventh hour T20I debut
Australia's T20I captain Mitchell Marsh heaped praise on Tanveer Sangha for staying composed despite an eleventh-hour debut in the first T20I against South Africa on Wednesday. Marsh talked about the youngster's ability to keep things simple, which he believes will make him a bright prospect for years to come.
Sangha's T20I debut was confirmed an hour before the match as Adam Zampa succumbed to illness. The 21-year-old repaid the management's faith, recording figures of 4-0-31-4.
Speaking after the game, Mitchell Marsh revealed that Sangha was in the gym when he found out about his inclusion in the line-up. Marsh expressed pride at the fantastic job the leg-spinner did for them at Kingsmead, Durban. As quoted by cricket.com.au, he said:
"I don't think Tanveer's heart rate gets over 100. He was in the gym when he found out and he was pretty chilled and said he's ready to go and it appears that he keeps it very simple, which will hold him in good stead for top level cricket. His demeanour is fantastic. I'm proud of him to come in and have a debut like that. He's got a great smile, so hopefully we see it for many years to come."
The Sydney Thunder spinner took the wicket of Proteas captain Aiden Markram in his very first over. He followed it up with back-to-back wickets of Dewald Brevis and Tristan Stubbs in his next over. Sangha's fourth wicket was Marco Jansen.
"Great sign for Australian cricket" - Mitchell Marsh on Sanha's ability to fill in for Adam Zampa
Marsh likened Sangha to Zampa for performing the middle-overs role to perfection despite the batters going hard at him. The West Australian added:
"Like Zamps, he's a wicket taker for us. We use him through the middle overs when we know teams are going to have to come hard at him and there'll be days where they go for runs, but we back them in to take wickets throughout the middle. For Tanveer to come in and fill in for Zamps in this game and do a really good job for us is a great sign for Australian cricket."
Despite Sangha's brilliant haul, Marsh was named the Player of the Match for his unbeaten 49-ball 92 that led Australia to 226. They later bowled the hosts out for 115. The 2nd T20I begins on Friday, September 1.