Wadhera was born in Ludhiana, a city in Punjab.[3] He first started playing cricket at the age of nine. Initially, he used to play as a specialist batsman and put in long hours to work on his fitness.[4] 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.[5][6] He started playing cricket under the guidance of his childhood coach Charanjit Bhangu. He was coached by Harjinder Singh in age level cricket, who saw "glimpses of Yuvraj" on him.[7] He received his coaching at the Ludhiana District Cricket Association, and was graduated from Satish Chander Dhawan Government College.[8]
Youth career
He played 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.[9] He was then selected to play for different tiers of India under-19 cricket team.[10] He made his under-19 debut for India on 17 July 2018, against Sri Lanka in a four-day match and scored 82 runs.[11] He also became the third cricketer from Ludhiana to play for India at any level.[12] In August 2018, he was named in India's squad for the 2016 ACC Under-19 Asia Cup.[13]
In April 2022, during the semi-final of 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.[14] He also became the fastest player to reach 200, 300, 400 and 500 runs in any level of recognized cricket, and was honoured by Junior Chamber International for his record.[15]
In January 2023, he was selected to play for Punjab in the 2022–23 Ranji Trophy.[19] He made his first-class debut for Punjab on 3 January 2023, against Gujarat.[20] He made a match-winning century in his debut match, scoring 123 runs guiding Punjab to a 380-run victory.[21] He struck his maiden double hundred in his just third first-class game,[22] scoring 214 runs against Madhya Pradesh on 18 January 2023.[23] He won the player of the match award,[24] and finished his maiden first-class season with 376 runs from seven innings.[25]
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