Who is Sameer Khan? All you need to know about the emerging 16-year-old left-arm orthodox spinner

Australia are one of the favourites to win the upcoming ODI World Cup, which begins next month. However, they will have to face a lot of spin-bowling during the marquee event and they are leaving no stone unturned in their preparation.

The five-time ODI World Cup champions are currently in India, where they will play a three-match ODI series ahead of the showpiece event. In the nets, they are facing a number of spinners and one of them is a 16-year-old left-arm orthodox bowler named, Sameer Khan. The youngster is studying in class XI and hails from Kapurthala, a city in Punjab.

Marcus Stoinis, who is one of the most dangerous batters in world cricket, faced Sameer in the nets for a brief while and the veteran was having a lot of problems dealing with the pace and trajectory of the schoolboy. Stoinis also acknowledged the bowler, saying: "Well bowled".

11th class student Sameer Khan from Kapurthala is helping Australia team to prepare for Indian challenge as a net bowler. The 16-year old boy got Stoinis LBW twice in the nets. #CricketTwitter pic.twitter.com/8IGxduG15g

— Himanshu Pareek (@Sports_Himanshu) September 21, 2023

"I got Stoinis leg-before a couple of times today. The coaches didn't ask me to bowl any specific line but I bowled what came naturally to me. Unko peeche ke paer se khelne ko thodi dikkat ho raahi thi aur tez daala aur upar dala. Thoda phaas rahe thee (Stoinis was having some difficulty when he went on the back foot. I bowled fast and pitched it up)," Sameer said after the net session, as per Inside Sport.

Sameer also said that he had bowled to Steve Smith, who is arguably the greatest batter in the modern era, and received praise from him as well.

"Yesterday, I bowled for a lengthy period to Steve Smith. It was a great experience. Bahot accha laga. Unhone well bowled bhi kahaa (It felt nice bowling to the Aussies. Some of them even complimented me," said Sameer.

Sameer Khan played in Punjab T20 League

Sameer picked up five wickets in seven games in the Punjab T20 League. He has also been named in Punjab's U-19 probables list.

"We are four brothers and a sister and my parents are completely supportive of my decision to pursue the sport. I played the Punjab T20 League and got a chance in seven games, got five wickets," said Sameer, whose father sells bed sheets in Kapurthala.

With Ashton Agar being on paternity leave, Sameer is helping the Australian batters prepare to face the left-arm orthodox bowling of Ravindra Jadeja, who is expected to bowl a lot of overs in the three-match ODI series.