USA announced a 15-man squad for the five-match T20I series against Canada. The 33-year-old New Zealand all-rounder Corey Anderson who announced his retirement in 2020 and moved to America to play Major League Cricket (MLC) has been named in the squad. The new inclusions also include former Indian players Harmeet Singh, and Milind Kumar whereas India's Under-19 World Cup-winning captain Unmukt Chand failed to find a place.
The T20I series is scheduled to start on April 7 and the final match of the series on April 13. The Gujarat-born Monank Patel has been named the captain with Aaron Jones as his deputy.
Former India Under-19 World Cup cricketer Harmeet has been named in the squad as well. He was a part of the Rajasthan Royals (RR) squad. Delhi-born all-rounder Milind who has represented two Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises -- Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) will bolster the USA team.
The squad also features former Canada captain Nitish Kumar who will make his international retain against the former side.
Anderson’s numbers
However, Anderson is the most high-profile inclusion. Anderson played his last T20I in 2018. He has represented the Delhi-based franchise, RCB and Mumbai Indians (MI) in IPL. While he played just one game for MI Emirates in UAE's ILT20, he was a part of Hobarat Hurricanes in the Big Bash League (BBL) 2023-24.
In T20Is, he has scored 485 runs from 31 games at an average of 24.25 including two half-centuries. He can chip in with the ball too. The southpaw has 14 wickets to his name in the format on the international stage.
USA vs India in T20 World Cup
One and a half months later, the USA will go up against Canada in the opening encounter of the T20 World Cup in Dallas on June 2. The USA have been placed in Group A alongside India, Pakistan and Ireland.
Milind and Harmeet will play against the Rohit Sharma-led India on June 12 in New York.
USA Squad: Monank Patel (captain), Aaron Jones (vice captain), Corey Anderson, Gajanand Singh, Jessy Singh, Saurabh Netravalkar, Nisarg Patel, Steven Taylor, Andries Gous, Harmeet Singh, Shadley Van Schalkwyk, Nostush Kenjige, Milind Kumar, Nitish Kumar, Usman Rafiq
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