The ICC T20 World Cup is edging ever closer. It will take place between 1 - 29 June. It will take place jointly in the West Indies and USA. it's the 9th edition. With the tournament fast approaching, the squads are being announced one by one. I will go through the talking points of each squad.
When it comes to the South African squad, there are a few talking points. The first is the inclusion of uncapped duo of Ryan Rickleton and Orttniel Baartman. Their inclusion is based on their performances in the SA20 this year. Rickelton was the leading run-scorer in the tournament with 530 runs at an average of 58.88 and a strike rate of 173.77 for MI Cape Town while Baartman took 18 wickets in eight matches for defending champions Sunrisers Eastern Cape.
There were places in the squad for Quinton De Kock and Anrich Nortjie. Nortjie hasn't been seen wearing a national jersey since 2023 due to a back injury but has since made a return to action in the IPL. Neither Nortjie nor De Kock have been given a central contract for this season/year. De Kock is now only 'eligible' for T20's as he's retired from Tests and ODI's. Nortjie has chosen to exclude himself from Test and ODI cricket to manage his workload.
The main talking point was the exclusion of Temba Bavuma. When the squad was announced, there was no questions related to his exclusion. He has performed poorly in the T20 circuit. He averages just 19 in his last 20 T20i innings.' Rob Walter, the Protea's white ball coach, said, "My no. 1 imperative is to create a winning Proteas team. In order to do that, I must pick the team, at the time, that gives us the best chance of doing that. With that said, the system needs to up the ante so that in six, 12 months, or two years time and particularly when we reach the 2027 World Cup at home, the demographics and representation will look a bit different.”
Part of the talking point on this is South Africa's past of trying to meet racial related targets for the squads selected. With Bavuma's exclusion, that leaves just one black player in the squad - Kagiso Rabada.
Rob Walter said on the squad selection, "Selecting this group was extremely tough considering the amount of T20 cricket that has been played recently and the form that has been on show. I want to congratulate the two uncapped players, Ryan and Ottniel, on their selection."
"We have seen some incredible performances from our players in 2024 and that made my job very tough indeed. I am nonetheless proud and confident that we have named the strongest possible squad that no doubt has every chance of success in the West Indies and USA.”
The squad selection, to me, is fair. Every player that has been selected has earned their place. I believe the exclusion of Bavuma and Rassie Van Der Dussen are good. T20 cricket is a fast paced game and there's no time or place for slow starters. However, I am shocked that Nandre Burger is only a reserve player. I believe he's done enough to earn a proper place in the squad.
SA squad: Aiden Markram (c); Ottniel Baartman; Gerald Coetzee; Quinton de Kock; Bjorn Fortuin; Reeza Hendricks; Marco Jansen; Heinrich Klaasen; Keshav Maharaj; David Miller; Anrich Nortje; Kagiso Rabada; Ryan Rickelton; Tabraiz Shamsi and Tristan Stubbs.
Reserves: Nandre Burger & Lungi Ngidi.
Afghanistan have made a few additions to their squad compared to the 2022 edition. Karim Janat, Mohammad Ishaq and Noor Ahmad are all named in the side. However, Hashmatullah Shahidi, who led Afghanistan in last year's ICC Men's Cricket World Cup, wasn't named in the squad. His last T20i appearance came in 2022.
Afghanistan have gone with what they know. That looks like a good move on the surface. They're not taking any real risks with the selection of players they chose. A few added players can add a fresh influence on the squad.
Afghanistan Squad: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk); Ibrahim Zadran; Azmatullah Omarzai; Najibullah Zadran; Mohammad Ishaq; Mohammad Nabi; Gulbadin Naib; Karim Janat; Rashid Khan (c); Nangyal Kharoti; Mujeeb Ur Rahman; Noor Ahmad; Naveen-ul-Haq; Fazalhaq Farooqi & Fareed Ahmad Malik.
Reserves: Sediq Atal; Hazratullah Zazai & Saleem Safi.
The Australian squad was announced and was filled with surprises. Veteran Steve Smith was omitted. Others include: Jake Fraser-McGurk; experienced seamer Jason Behrendorff and all-rounder Matt Short. Mitchell Marsh will lead the side after being appointed on a full-time basis. After a string of injuries, Ashton Agar returns to the side. In terms of all rounders, Marcus Stoinis, Tim David and Cameron Green join Glenn Maxwell in the final squad.
Chair of selectors, George Bailey, said, "This is an experienced squad with extensive World Cup experience that offers a variety of structures and covers the scenarios the panel believes will factor in the West Indies with the unique nature of the venues and our opponents. It’s great to have Ashton Agar back into the squad following a spate of unfortunate and untimely injuries. We believe Ashton can play a critical role in this tournament along with Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Cam Green and Mitch Marsh in complementing our front-line attack options. The batting options available allow a tailored approach to each venue and opponent.”
I'm also surprised by this selection. I would've thought that Fraser-McGurk would've been selected for his explosive batting. I'm on the fence in regard to Steve Smith. He doesn't strike me as a proper T20 cricket player. He is a slow and patient player. I suppose on that fact, it's a good selection. However, he can be explosive when he gets into the rythmn of the play. It's a catch 22 to me. I have to concur with George Bailey's statement.
Australia squad: Mitchell Marsh (c); Ashton Agar; Pat Cummins; Tim David; Nathan Ellis; Cameron Green; Josh Hazlewood; Travis Head; Josh Inglis; Glenn Maxwell; Mitchell Starc; Marcus Stoinis; Matthew Wade; David Warner & Adam Zampa.
The Canadian squad that was announced is a fully experienced one. Saad Bin Zafar will lead the side. Left-arm orthodox spinner, Saad will bring a wealth of experience to the Canada team. Top-order batter Aaron Johnson and left-arm seamer Kaleem Sana are also expected to feature heavily in a side with just four players under the age of 30. There was no room in the squad for Nikhil Dutta or Srimantha Wijeyeratne, while Tajinder Singh travels as a reserve.
This will be the first time that they will be participating in the tournament. They are coached by former Sri Lankan and Canadian international Pubudu Dassanayake, having taken the reins in 2022.
I feel like I am in no position to be commenting on the squad. All I can say is well done for reaching qualification for the tournament.
Canada squad: Saad Bin Zafar (c); Aaron Johnson; Dilon Heyliger; Dilpreet Bajwa; Harsh Thaker; Jeremy Gordon; Junaid Siddiqui; Kaleem Sana; Kanwarpal Tathgur; Navneet Dhaliwal; Nicholas Kirton; Pargat Singh; Ravinderpal Singh; Rayyankhan Pathan & Shreyas Movva.
Reserves: Tajinder Singh; Aaditya Varadharajan; Ammar Khalid; Jatinder Matharu & Parveen Kumar.
The top story hiting the England squad is that Jofra Archer is part of the squad. The injury prone player last played an international match was March of last year. Other than that, another absentee, Chris Jordan, has made the cut. There are no other real surprises. The expected players were selected.
As I stated above, nothing really surprised me about the squad. I wans't rubbing my eyes with amazement. The defending champions have a good and experienced side. The absence of Ben Stokes will be interesting. It will be interesting because he is a very influential player and a potential game changer. His absence will probably be felt.
England squad: Jos Buttler (c); Moeen Ali; Jofra Archer, Jonathan Bairstow, Harry Brook, Sam Curran, Ben Duckett, Tom Hartley, Will Jacks, Chris Jordan, Liam Livingstone, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Reece Topley, Mark Wood.
When it comes to India, the only real question that needed to be answered was who would be the wicketkeeper for the tournament. It was between three: KL Rahul; Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson. One day when I was on Facebook, I saw that there was a poll as to who the fans wanted as their keeper. The majority was for Sanju Samson. At the end, the Indian selectors chose Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson.
This will mark the return of Pant to international cricket for the first time since a near-fatal accident in December 2022 that kept him on the sidelines for more than a year. There is a big omission in KL Rahul. He has featured in the past two tournaments.
The Indian teams are always a potent side. They can be very dangerous. With star names in their squads, it should be expected that they go all the way to the final. Anything else would be considered a failure - to me that is.
India squad: Rohit Sharma (c); Hardik Pandya (vc); Yashasvi Jaiswal; Virat Kohli; Suryakumar Yadav; Rishabh Pant (wk); Sanju Samson (wk); Shivam Dube; Ravindra Jadeja; Axar Patel; Kuldeep Yadav; Yuzvendra Chahal; Arshdeep Singh; Jasprit Bumrah & Mohd. Siraj.
Reserves: Shubman Gill; Rinku Singh; Khaleel Ahmed and Avesh Khan.
The Nepal squad announcement yielded no real surprises. Rohit Paudel will lead a youthful Nepal group at the T20 World Cup. Players were rewarded for their form across matches at the ACC Premier Cup in Oman and outings against a West Indies A side currently on tour in Kirtipur.
Sompal Kami is the only player from Nepal’s debut 2014 campaign in the squad for the 2024 edition, with the fast bowling all-rounder joined by cult hero Karan KC as the elder statement of the group.
I once again can't comment. I suppose all I can say that it's good that they selected an experienced squad.
Nepal squad: Rohit Paudel (c); Aasif Sheikh; Anil Kumar Sah; Kushal Bhurtel; Kushal Malla; Dipendra Singh Airee; Lalit Rajbanshi; Karan KC, Gulshan Jha; Sompal Kami; Pratis GC; Sundeep Jora; Abinash Bohar; Sagar Dhakal & Kamal Singh Airee
There are no real surprises in the New Zealand squad. Kyle Jamieson and Adam Milne will miss out through injury. Rachin Ravindra - alongside fast bowler Matt Henry were also selected.
New Zealand coach, Gary Stead, said, "I'd like to congratulate everyone named today. It’s a special time representing your country at a world tournament. We expect the venues in the West Indies to offer quite varied conditions and feel we’ve selected a squad with the scope to adapt to those conditions.”
He said on the selection of Henry and Ravindra, "Matt has worked exceptionally hard on his skills across the phases of a T20 game to come back into selection consideration. Rachin has made every post a winner in the past 12 months and it was exciting to see him continue that trajectory over the summer in the T20 format against Australia.”
It's more of a status quo to this squad in my eyes. It's a good thing to select known players who they are aware can perform. You shouldn't take any risks in any competition.
New Zealand Squad: Kane Williamson (c); Finn Allen; Trent Boult; Michael Bracewell; Mark Chapman; Devon Conway; Lockie Ferguson; Matt Henry; Daryl Mitchell; Jimmy Neesham; Glenn Phillips; Rachin Ravindra; Mitchell Santner; Ish Sodhi & Tim Southee.
Reserve: Ben Sears.
The Oman squad was announced with Aqib Ilyas being unveiled asthe skipper. Former captain, Zeeshan Maqsood, keeps his spot in the group. The 36-year-old deputised Sultan Ahmed in Oman’s T20 World Cup debut back in 2016 and led the side at the 2021 edition which they co-hosted with UAE.
Ilyas said, "I am truly honoured to be entrusted with the captaincy. It’s a huge responsibility, and I aim to lead the team to many victories. We are preparing rigorously for the World Cup, and the recent ACC Premier Cup has provided us with invaluable preparation."
There was no room in the squad for opener Jatinder Singh or Samay Shrivastav.
I suppose appointing a new captain will bring in fresh ideas into the squad. A new perspective can be good for a team.
Oman squad: Aqib Ilyas (c); Zeeshan Maqsood; Kashyap Prajapati; Pratik Athavale (wk); Ayaan Khan; Shoaib Khan; Mohammad Nadeem; Naseem Khushi (wk); Mehran Khan; Bilal Khan; Rafiullah; Kaleemullah; Fayyaz Butt; Shakeel Ahmad & Khalid Kail.
Reserves: Jatinder Singh; Samay Shrivastava; Sufyan Mehmood & Jay Odedra.
Corey Anderson is the main talking point in the USA team. This is because he played for New Zealand in the 2015 World Cup final. It will be led by 31-year-old wicket-keeper batter, Monank Patel. USA's squad features some familiar names alongside performers from the recent T20i series against Canada, which they won 4-0.
What surprises me about the squad is the selection of Andries Gous and Shadley Van Schalkwyk. This is because they both played domestic cricket in South Africa. I never expected for the both of them to jump shores to represent another country. I can't say anything else other than that.
USA squad: Monank Patel (c); Aaron Jones (vc); Andries Gous; Corey Anderson; Ali Khan; Harmeet Singh; Jessy Singh; Milind Kumar; Nisarg Patel; Nitish Kumar; Nosthush Kenjige; Saurabh Nethravalkar; Shadley Van Schalkwyk; Steven Taylor & Shayan Jahangir.
Reserve Players: Gajanand Singh; Juanoy Drysdale & Yasir Mohammad.
The West Indies squad is quite interesting. Shamar Joseph, who impressed in his Test debut series against Australia earlier this year, is now poised to mark his T20I debut after being picked in the T20 World Cup squad.
Shimron Hetmyer makes a comeback after missing the T20i series against Australia. He has been in good nick in the ongoing IPL with the Rajasthan Royals, scoring 83 runs in four innings at a strike rate of 184.44 while playing the finisher's role.
Kyle Mayers and Oshane Thomas miss out on the squad.
The selection isn't shocking. The West Indies team is always a powerful side in this format. In my view, they should always be considered favourites.
West Indies Squad: Rovman Powell (c); Alzarri Joseph; Johnson Charles; Roston Chase; Shimron Hetmyer; Jason Holder; Shai Hope; Akeal Hosein; Shamar Joseph; Brandon King; Gudakesh Motie; Nicholas Pooran; Andre Russell; Sherfane Rutherford & Romario Shepherd.
There are other squads that need to be announced which is why there will be a part 2.
All teams are allowed to make changes to their squad until May 25th, after which any alteration will require approval from ICC's Event Technical Committee.
The squads announced so far are all very interesting. It's filled with youth and experience. All squads take a different take. Some seek balance while others take what they know best. Every team has their own criteria in which they selected the players.
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