Melbourne, August 3, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Indian-origin cricketer Neel Patel has earned a place in Australia’s Under-19 men’s squad for the upcoming multi-format tour of India, where the young Australian side will face India Under-19s in a series of white-ball and red-ball matches.
The 16-member squad will play three 50-over games and two four-day matches in Rajkot and Ahmedabad next month. Fast bowlers Will Byrom and Kasey Barton will lead Australia’s pace attack during the tour.
Patel, who represents the University of New South Wales (UNSW) Cricket Club, has already made a mark in Sydney Premier Cricket. At the age of 16, he became one of the youngest players to score more than 1,000 runs in Sydney Premier Cricket First Grade in a calendar year.
Byrom and Barton are the only two members of the squad who were part of Australia’s campaign at the ICC Under-19 World Cup earlier this year in Zimbabwe. Byrom impressed with 10 wickets at an average of 10.50, while Barton claimed four wickets as Australia reached the semi-finals before losing to England by 27 runs.
Cricket Australia Head of National Development Sonya Thompson said the India tour would provide valuable exposure to the country’s emerging players.
“We are really pleased to provide the opportunity to some of Australia’s best young players to continue their development as part of our pathways program. Touring India and playing against high-quality opposition in challenging conditions will be a valuable experience and test the players technically and mentally across formats,” Thompson said.
The tour is part of Cricket Australia’s broader development pathway, with young players being exposed to challenging international conditions. A separate CA Development squad has also arrived in Chennai for the annual MRF Academy Program, featuring state-level players and recent Australia T20I debutant Joel Davies.
The program will include two multi-day matches on spin-friendly pitches, scheduled for August 5-6 and August 10-11.
Australia U19 squad: Kasey Barton, Hayden Barbulovi, Eli Brain, Will Byrom, Blake Cattle, Jack Czosnek, Spencer Green, Connor Gregory, Charlie Henderson, Zed Hollick, Matthew Lough, Neel Patel, Jacob Pietz, Patrick Sullivan, Theo Tsingos, Thomas Vaseo.
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