iNDICA NEWS BUREAU-
USA Cricket has finally announced the long-awaited squad for the historic home T20 international and ODI series against Ireland.
On December,10, the USA Cricket through Twitter revealed the names of the players who have made it into the final squad for the series starting Dec.22. The T20 matches will be played on Dec. 22 and 23; whereas the three-match ODI series will be held between Dec. 26 to 30 at the Central Broward Regional Park in Florida.
Out of the 18 selected players, 10 are of Indian origin including the new ODI Captain Monank Patel.
Twenty-eight-year-old Monank, first captained the squad at the ICC America T20 World Qualifiers held in November this year and would be replacing Saurabh Netravalkar as the team’s ODI captain.
In an interview to Cricbuzz, Netravalkar said, “As I transition to focus on my role primarily as a senior fast bowler in the team, I want to convey my best wishes and full support to Monank and Aaron, and I am confident all of us together will take this team forward as one family! It is my dream for us to play in the 2023 ODI World Cup in India and we’ll do our best to achieve that.”
Among the selected players are two teenagers, Vatsal Vaghela (19) and Rahul Jariwala (17), both Indian in origin, and both all set to make their debut for the national side. Jariwala is a right-handed, wicketkeeper-batsman who has played for the USA Under-19 side.
He earned his maiden call to the national squad after having back-to-back successful campaigns at the Men’s National Championship, wherein he was the leading run-scorer and at the Minor Cricket League, wherein he led his team to the championship as well.
While Rahul Jariwala was selected for the ODI squad, Vatsal was able to manage a spot in both the T20 as well as the ODI squad. Vaghela has been one of the most consistent spin bowlers this year, provided the fact that he started his career as an opening batsman. In an online interview with Emerging Cricket, Vaghela said, “I think keeping things simple and not looking too far ahead into the future really helped me stay focused and consistent. Also, just focusing on one ball at a time and not chasing after results, but rather working on things I could control and letting the results follow.” Vaghela’s younger sister Isani is also a member of the USA Women’s Cricket Team, who made her debut earlier this year.
An interesting pick into the squad is Juan ‘Rusty Theron’. Having represented South Africa in ODIs and T20Is in the past, Juan has now become a permanent member of the USA squad. Despite the fact that he has not been able to play as per his name, the management has kept its trust intact with Theron. Theron is supposed to be USA’s trump card for the upcoming series. Ali Khan has also been called to the squad after touring the world playing several domestic leagues. Ali Khan, 31 years old, created history earlier this year by being the first-ever USA-based player to bag an IPL contract. Khan was added to the Shahrukh Khan-owned franchise Kolkata Knight Riders’ roster but failed to make it into the final playing 11.
Nosthush Kenjige, the left-arm orthodox bowler has been able to retain his place in the ODI squad alongside Vatsal Vaghela. Kenjige is one of the 10 players in the squad who are of Indian origin. He has picked up 15 wickets in 11 games so far at an economy rate of 4.38 runs per over.
Viewers in the Indian subcontinent can enjoy these matches on the Star Sports platforms. The full squads for both the formats are given below:
USA T20 International Series Squad (December 22nd – 23rd)
Monank Patel (Captain)
Aaron Jones (Vice-captain)
Ali Khan
Gajanand Singh
Jasdeep Singh
Jaskaran Malhotra
Karima Gore
Marty Kain
Nisarg Patel
Rusty Theron
Saurabh Netravalkar
Steven Taylor
Vatsal Vaghela
Xavier Marshall
Reserve: Kyle Phillip
USA One Day International Series Squad (December 26th – 30th)
Monank Patel (Captain)
Aaron Jones (Vice-captain)
Ali Khan
Gajanand Singh
Jasdeep Singh
Jaskaran Malhotra
Nisarg Patel
Nosthush Kenjige
Rahul Jariwala
Saurabh Netravalkar
Steven Taylor
Sushant Modani
Vatsal Vaghela
Xavier Marshall
Reserve: Kyle Phillip
(source: usacricket.org)
