Nikhil Choundhary, an Indian-born man, has been included in Australia's T20I squad for their upcoming series against Bangladesh. The series gets underway from June 17.
According to cricket.com.au, Choundhary is not an Australian citizen yet. However, he is a permanent resident of Australia, which fulfils the International Cricket Council's eligibility criteria to play for his adopted nation.
Choudhary is 30-years old and is an all-rounder. He bats right handed and occasionally bowls leg spin. He was born in Delhi and has played domestic cricket in India along with India's current ODI and Test skipper Shubman Gill, and T20I opener Abhishek Sharma. He also trialled with Indian Premier League side Mumbai Indians. His List A and T20 debuts were in India in 2017 where he played for Haryana.
In 2020, he was in Queensland visiting his uncle when Covid forced him to stay back in Australia and pursue cricket over there. Before becoming a professional cricketer, Choudhary worked in a Mexican restaurant and worked as a postman for a while. He was picked by the Big Bash League team Hobart Hurricanes on the recommendation of former Australian all-rounder James Hopes.
He has been a regular for the Hurricanes since the 2023/24 season and has played 32 matches for the team and scored 693 runs and claimed 9 wickets. He was also the part of the Hurricanes' 2024/25 squad that won the league that season. In the most recent iteration of the BBL he scored 307 runs from 12 innings at a strike rate of 153.50 and averaged 30.70.
In October 2025, he made his First-Class debut for Tasmania in a match against Queensland. He had a memorable match as he first picked a five-wicket haul and backed that with an unbeaten innings of 76. A month later, he slammed his maiden First Class hundred in a game against New South Wales.
While a handful of Indian-origin cricketers have represented Australia in recent years, the last India-born male cricketer to play for Australia was Rex Sellers, who featured in a Test against India in Calcutta in 1964. If Choudhary earns his international debut, he will become the first India-born man to represent Australia in more than six decades, and only the second overall since Sellers.
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Australia's T20I Squad vs Bangladesh
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
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