Who is Nivethan Radhakrishnan, the Tamil Nadu-born player selected in Australia U-19 squad?

Former Tamil Nadu Premier League player Nivethan Radhakrishnan is all set to represent Australia U-19s in the upcoming ICC U-19 World Cup. The 18-year-old was named in the Australian U-19 squad earlier today.

Not many fans would know that Nivethan Radhakrishnan was born in Tamil Nadu. In fact, he has been part of TNCA tournaments and even TNPL squads. He was one of the net bowlers for the Delhi Capitals in the 2021 edition of the Indian Premier League.

Nivethan earned his first professional contract from Tasmania. He is an ambidextrous finger spinner, who can bowl right-arm off-spin as well as slow left-arm spin. Explaining the reason behind his ambidextrous bowling skills, Radhakrishnan told ESPNCricinfo earlier this year:

"There was no one bowling with both hands on TV or in league cricket in Chennai. No one had heard of it back then. I was like: 'well, why not?' There's no fear of failure in my game. If I don't care what people think about me and don't care about failing, what limit is there to what I can achieve?"

Nivethan Radhakrishnan turned up for Australia at the U-16 level for a series against Pakistan in 2019. He performed exceptionally well, scoring 172 runs and picking up eight wickets in a five-match series.

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Nivethan Radhakrishnan shared dressing rooms with Ravichandran Ashwin

Ravichandran Ashwin is one of the best spinners of all time

During his stints in TNPL and with the Delhi Capitals, Nivethan Radhakrishnan got an opportunity to share the dressing room with veteran Indian all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin. He also revealed that he used to run out drinks to Subramaniam Badrinath in TNPL.

It will be exciting to see how the ambidextrous spinner performs for Australia U-19s in the U-19 World Cup 2021. Here is Australia's full squad for the mega event:

Australia U-19 World Cup squad: Harkirat Bajwa, Aidan Cahill, Cooper Connolly, Joshua Garner, Isaac Higgins, Campbell Kellaway, Corey Miller, Jack Nisbet, Nivethan Radhakrishnan, William Salzmann, Lachlan Shaw, Jackson Sinfield, Tobias Snell, Tom Whitney, Teague Wyllie.