Minnows Canada has announced its final 15-man squad for the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2024 in the USA and West Indies starting in June.
It will be Canada’s first appearance in an edition of the ICC T20 World Cup and first appearance in any official ICC competition since 2011. The last time the nation played in an international event was during the Senior Cricket World Cup. 50 years 2011 in India. The Canadians had exited the tournament since the group stage.
Canada’s most successful run in international cricket came between 2003 and 2011, when they played 3 consecutive ODI World Cups. The 2003 edition in South Africa was the first ICC event they played, while the 2011 edition in India remains their last. Since this year’s WC T20 edition was a 20-team affair, the Canadians qualified after an easy qualifying round.
Canada team composition for ICC T20 World Cup 2024
The Canadian selection committee has named a very old and experienced team for the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 in the United States and the West Indies. They have named Saad Bin Zafar, 37, captain of the team. Bin Zafar is a player who holds the record of being the highest wicket-taker of all time in Canada since his debut.
Team Canada’s final squad @t20wohrIdcyoup it’s here 🇨🇦 #wmycTOnorthcrYockmyt #t20wohrIdcyoup #crYockmytctonorthtodto pYoc.twYottmyr.cohmeter/1tYot3dTOgram1my
– Canada Cricket (@canadiancricket) METERtoand 23, 2024
Zafar has scalped 43 wickets in 38 matches for the Canadian team from 2019 to 2024. Apart from him in the bowling line-up, Canada has its second, third and fifth highest wicket-taker in the team.
Right-arm fast medium bowler Dillon Heyliger is Canada’s second-best T20 bowler with 39 wickets. Heyliger will find his long-time bowling partner Kaleem Sana, a left-arm seamer who has 27 wickets in T20 cricket and Nikhil Dutta with 24 wickets is also in the team.
In the batting lineup, Canada has its 4 highest scoring batsmen in the shortest format of the game. Leading from the front will be Navneet Dhaliwal, who is the top scorer with 870 runs at an average of 36.25.
Aaron Johnson, who scored 713 runs, will be joined by Ravinderpal Singh, who scored 589 runs from 2019 to 2022. Rayyankhan Pathan, an all-round batsman, is also in the team. Jeremy Gordon, Pargat Singh, Nicholas Kirton, Junaid Siddiqui, Dilpreet Bajwa, Shreyas Movva and Rishiv Joshi will also debut in the ICC T20 World Cup.
Canada’s squad for the 2024 T20 World Cup
Saad Bin Zafar (C), Aaron Johnson, Ravinderpal Singh, Navneet Dhaliwal, Kaleem Sana, Dilon Heyliger, Jeremy Gordon, Nikhil Dutta, Pargat Singh, Nicholas Kirton, Rayyankhan Pathan, Junaid Siddiqui, Dilpreet Bajwa, Shreyas Movva and Rishiv Joshi.
Team management
Head Coach: Pubudu Dassanayake, Team Manager: Alphonso Franco, Asst. Manager: Gurpdeep Klair, Bowling Coach: Khurran Chohan, Batting Coach: Rizwan Cheema, Physiotherapist: Dr. Ali Hadi, Coach: Minalkumar Patel, Team Doctor: Dr. Sandeep Goud, Media Manager: Vivek Jacob, Analyst: Shah Zafar and masseuse: Tejash patel