Australia will play practice games against Sri Lanka (9 January) and South Africa (11 January) in Christchurch, ahead of its first match of the tournament against India (14 January) in Tauranga.
The team attended the tournament opening function at Hagley Park, alongside all competing teams, last night.
All-rounder Param Uppal, from New South Wales, spoke at training at Rangiora Oval.
Uppal, 19, has previously represented Australia Under 19s against Sri Lanka in April 2017. The top-order batsman and off-spin bowler spent the winter with the National Performance Squad, and is rookie-contracted by the NSW Blues and Sydney Thunder.
Uppal is a classy right-handed batsman who scored 370 runs at this year’s under-19 championships at an impressive average of over 60.
In December 2017, he was named in Australia's squad for the 2018 Under-19 Cricket World Cup.
A resident of the Glenwood suburb in Sydney’s west, Param has been making waves in the junior cricket circuit in Australia.
He was one of the three captains to lead Australia against Sri Lanka in the three-match series in Hobart early this year where he also smashed 210 runs, including a century.
While his father, who was a lawyer in the Punjab and Haryana High Court before shifting to Australia, works in the railways transport department in Sydney, mother Jaspreet teaches at Muirfield High School.
Uppal will be playing under the captaincy of another Indian-origin player Jason Sangha
Sangha is also the youngest batsman since Sachin Tendulkar to score a first-class ton against England.
