Biography

Nehal Wadhera is an Indian cricketer, who is a left-handed batter and an occasional leg-break bowler. He plays for the Punjab cricket team in domestic cricket, having previously represented the India under-19 cricket team. He is often referred to by his nickname "new-age Yuvraj Singh" for his middle-order performances and similarity in batting style with Yuvraj Singh.

His career began with playing for Punjab under-16 and under-19 cricket teams in Vijay Merchant Trophy and Cooch Behar Trophy from 2015 to 2018, with 529 runs in the 2017–18 season. He was then selected to play for different tiers of India's under-19 cricket team. He made his under-19 debut for India on 17 July 2018, against Sri Lanka in a four-day match and scored 82 runs. He also became the third cricketer from Ludhiana to play for India at any level. In August 2018, he was named in India's squad for the 2016 ACC Under-19 Asia Cup. In April 2022, during the semi-final of the Inter-District U-23 Cricket Championship, he smashed 578 runs in an innings, surpassing Brian Lara's record of highest score in an innings in a four-day match. He also became the fastest player to reach 200, 300, 400, and 500 runs in any level of recognized cricket, and was honored by Junior Chamber International for his record that got his attention.

In December 2020, Wadhera was named in Punjab's squad for the 2020–21 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. In December 2022, he was bought by the Mumbai franchise at a price of 20 lakh INR, to play for them in the Indian Premier League. He became the third player from the Ludhiana district to get a call-up. In January 2023, he was selected to play for Punjab in the 2022–23 Ranji Trophy. He made his first-class debut for Punjab on 3 January 2023, against Gujarat. He made a match-winning century in his debut match, scoring 123 runs and guiding Punjab to a 380-run victory. He struck his maiden double hundred in his just third first-class game, scoring 214 runs against Madhya Pradesh on 18 January 2023. He won the Player of the Match award and finished his maiden first-class season with 376 runs from seven innings. He made his Twenty20 debut for Mumbai on 2 April 2023, against Bangalore in the 2023 Indian Premier League. He impressed on his debut match, scoring a quick-fire 21 runs off 13 balls including two sixes. On 6 May 2023, he scored his maiden ITL half-century against Chennai. He scored 241 runs from 14 innings in that season. In June 2023, he was replaced by Jayant Yadav, to play for North Zone in the 2023 Duleep Trophy. He made his List A debut for Punjab on 23 November 2023, against Baroda in the 2023–24 Vijay Hazare Trophy. In July 2023, he was named in India A's squad as a standby player for the 2023 ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup. He will feature again for Mumbai in the 2024 Indian Premier League.