Texas (USA): A team full of expatriates, tournament co-hosts USA, coached by former Australian batter Stuart Law, will promise some surprises when it kicks off the T20 World Cup taking on qualifiers Canada in a battle of debutants.
The USA have proved that they will be no pushovers, having beaten the full-member side Bangladesh 2-1 in the build up to the tournament. They will also have the edge having beaten Canada 4-0 recently.
The side will be boosted by former New Zealand player and 2015 World Cup finalist Corey Anderson. The hosts will be led by wicket-keeper batter Monank Patel. Born in Anand, Monank played for his home state at age-group level before making the US his home in 2016. He was the top-scorer in the World T20 Americas qualifier 2018 with 208 runs from six innings and made his T20I debut against UAE in 2019.
The team will also feature some familiar names in former Mumbai and Rajasthan Royals left-arm spinner Harmeet Singh and ex-Delhi and Royal Challengers Bengaluru batter Milind Kumar. They also have Saurabh Netravalkar, the most capped USA player, Aaron Jones, and opener Steven Taylor, their highest run-scorer in international cricket.
Tearaway quick Ali Khan is also fit for the tournament, shaking off a hamstring injury which kept him out of the Canada series. Batting all-rounder Nitish Kumar, who played 18 T20Is for Canada from 2012 to 2019, has now switched sides and will be seen in the USA jersey. He made his T20I debut for the USA against Canada in April this year.