Tanveer Sangha's selection in Australia's T20 squad for next month's five-match tour of New Zealand marks a watershed moment in the country's leg-spin bowling saga.
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The Sydney Thunder wicket-taking machine can lay claim to being the first wrist spinner picked for an Australian squad who wasn't directly influenced by Shane Warne.
Sangha was a shock selection in the T20 touring side earlier this week, but is fully deserving of the honour after playing every match for the Thunder this summer, claiming 21 wickets across the Big Bash regular season.
Only Jhye Richardson of Perth and Brisbane's Mark Steketee have claimed more.
At 19 years of age, Sangha is too young to remember any of Warne's first-class career. He was just five yeas old when Warne retired from Test cricket, and Sangha wasn't interested in the sport at that age anyway.
And even if he was, Sangha's eye would've been more attracted to pacemen, given he began life as a fast bowler.
When he realised that wasn't for him he ventured into off spin, but small fingers led to him starting to turn the ball the other way.
"I don't really have like an idol leg spinner," Sangha said.
"I never really got into cricket until I was like 11 or 12 and I never really even watched it then.
"I grew up and cricket wasn't really a big thing. People watch Ronaldo and they know I love soccer because of Ronaldo, but I don't really have anyone like that, I just started playing cricket like a normal sport."
Not that Warne has been ignored entirely in Sangha's rapid rise to international selection.
He's watched copious amounts of video to study Australia's finest ever bowler, something he tends to do with different leg spinners around the world such as Adam Zampa who he'll have the chance to work closely with next month.
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"I'm definitely looking forward to it, he's very smart, he's got a good cricket brain and that's what I try and do, I try and outsmart the batsman and try and think about the game a lot," Sangha said.
"He's tactically very aware. It's always the dream [to play for Australia], especially when I was younger and I started bowling leg spin.
"Coming into the ranks and just try to progress my way up each step of a time, and looking how he's doing it I definitely want to ask him and pick his brain."
Sangha will need to play a key role again on Sunday with the Thunder to play an elimination final at Manuka Oval against either Brisbane or Adelaide.
They arrived in Canberra on Wednesday, having played seven matches here already over the summer, and will eagerly be awaiting the result of the Heat-Strikers clash at the Gabba.
"We obviously train to higher quality and train competitively, and try and beat each other as much as we can in the nets," Sangha said.
"It's like any other game, we train and then when we know who we're playing we plan and then try and execute."
James Buckley
James is a Queanbeyan boy enjoying his second stint at the Canberra Times, more than eight years on from his first. In between he's traveled the world, and spent time covering sport in Sydney.
James is a Queanbeyan boy enjoying his second stint at the Canberra Times, more than eight years on from his first. In between he's traveled the world, and spent time covering sport in Sydney.
