"He's pretty confident"- Ricky Ponting backs Tanveer Sangha to play for Australia
Ricky Ponting has backed young leg-spinner Tanveer Sangha to be picked for the five-match T20I series against New Zealand starting next month.
The former Australian skipper opined that Sangha is ready to play international cricket and should be preferred over Peter Hatzoglou. The latter is another upcoming leg-spinner vying for a spot in the national team.
Playing for the Sydney Thunder in the Big Bash League, Tanveer Sangha has impressed with his control and guile.
The spinner has come up from Australia's U-19 setup, and Ricky Ponting feels he could be inducted in the national team soon.
"I think it's a bit early for Hatzoglou to be playing international cricket… but Tanveer Sangha is a different question. He's a young bloke who looks like he's pretty confident and in control of what he's doing, and he bowls proper good balls so he might be someone they'd look to get into the system," Ricky Ponting told cricket.com.au.
However, Ponting is wary that introducing leg-spinners early at the international level can affect their confidence if things don't begin well for them.
"It's a hard one for young leg-spinners because they come along quickly and everyone's excited by how good they might be, quite often they're introduced early, and they can have a few setbacks after that. But they might have to think about that(Selecting Tanveer Sangha)," said Ponting.
Tanveer Sangha's impressive BBL
The 19-year-old is currently the fourth-highest wicket-taker in the 2020-21 BBL season. The leg spinner has 20 scalps to his name.
He has bowled at an economy of just below eight runs per over - 7.95.
Adam Zampa is currently the first-choice spinner for the Aussies in the T20I format. However, Sangha should have a decent chance of making it to the squad on the back of his BBL performances.
Australia are touring South Africa around the same time, so Test bowlers are unlikely to be involved for the New Zealand tour.
Apart from that, Ashton Agar missed the entire BBL because of an injury, and he remains a doubt. Hence, Tanveer Sangha stands in good stead to be picked in Australia's T20I squad.