Nivethan Radhakrishnan Biography, Career, Records, and Unknown Facts

Who is Nivethan Radhakrishnan
Nivethan Radhakrishnan

Nivethan Radhakrishnan Biography: Tamil Nadu-born all-rounder Nivethan Radhakrishnan is an Ambidextrous spin Bowler. Nivethan Radhakrishnan is an Indian-origin Australian player who has been named in the Australian squad for the under-19 World Cup to be held in the West Indies in January 2022.

Nivethan Radhakrishnan Biography

The youngster, who immigrated to Australia in 2013, has played in the TNCA first division for Swaraj CC and been part of two Tamil Nadu Premier League squads.

Nivethan is an ambidextrous spinner, reportedly the only of his kind in the country’s junior circuit. He was offered a rookie contract by both NSW and Tasmania this season, but he decided to join the latter.

Earlier in IPL 2021, he spent some of his quality times with Ricky Ponting, Steve Smith, and several top Indian cricketers during his IPL stint with Delhi Capitals. He has been the net bowler for the Rishabh Pant-led team in the previous year’s IPL tournament.

Nivethan Radhakrishnan bowling style
Nivethan Radhakrishnan bowling style

Nivethan Radhakrishnan Personal Life

  • Radhakrishnan was born in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.
  • He moved to Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, in 2013 at the age of 10, with his father, mother, and older brother.
  • He has cited West Indies all-rounder, Sir Garfield Sobers, as his idol.

Nivethan Radhakrishnan Career

  • Radhakrishnan spent the 2017 and 2018 Tamil Nadu Premier League seasons with Karaikudi Kaalai and Dindigul Dragons, respectively.
  • In 2019, Nivethan Radhakrishnan made the Australia U-16 team for the Dubai tour where he finished as their leading wicket-taker in one-day matches, taking seven wickets in four games. He also scored 145 runs in four innings.
  • In 2020, he was one of the four cricketers to win the Bill O’Reilly Medal and also received the Basil Sellers Scholarship.
  • In 2021, he was a net bowler for the Indian Premier League franchise, the Delhi Capitals.
  • In the same year, he earned his first professional contract with the Tasmanian Tigers.
  • In December 2021, he was named in Australia’s team for the 2022 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup in the West Indies.
Nivethan in Karaikudi Kaalai
Nivethan (fourth from left in the bottom) with his Karaikudi Kaalai teammates (Image courtesy: Karaikudi Kaalai Facebook page)

Nivethan Radhakrishnan Records

  • In 2011 at the age of just 8, Nivethan Radhakrishnan took a hat-trick in a TNCA fourth division league match.
  • In 2012 Nivethan Radhakrishnan scored a century off just 60 balls in an under-12 match.
  • In 2017, Nivethan Radhakrishnan created history in New South Wales’ Moore Shield by scoring a record of 562 runs at an average of 112.40. In the process, he also notched up three centuries (192*, 156, 100).
  • With the ball, he was equally good as he picked up 12 wickets in the tournament and went on to win the Moore Shield Player of the Year and the best batsman award.

Nivethan Radhakrishnan Unknown Facts

  • Nivethan is a big fan of the West Indian legend Sir Garfield Sobers.
  • Nivethan Radhakrishnan is an ambidextrous bowler where he can bowl right-arm off-spin and slow left-arm orthodox.
  • His father K R Anbuselvan is a former Tamil Nadu under-25 cricketer.
  • Radhakrishnan has previously represented Australia at the U-16 level. It was Radhakrishnan’s father who encouraged him to try bowling finger spin with both hands.

What is Ambidextrous spin Bowling?

Ambidexterity is the ability to use both the right and left hand equally well. Only about one percent of people are naturally ambidextrous, which equates to about 70,000,000 people out of the world’s population of 7 billion.

List of Ambidextrous Bowlers

The world hasn’t seen any ambidextrous bowler at the highest level even though they have a special ability to bowl in both arms. Following are the list of players who can bowl with both hands:

  • Robin Peterson – South Africa
  • George Bailey – Australia
  • Aushik Srinivas – Tamil Nadu(India)
  • Akshay Karnewar – Maharashtra(India)