Monank Patel to lead US Squad in T20 series against Canada

Indian American Monank Patel will continue to lead USA Cricket’s 15-member men’s team for the upcoming crucial five-match T20 international series against Canada from April 7 to13 in Houston, Texas. Aaron Jones will remain his deputy, USA Cricket announced Thursday.

The squad for T20Is against Canada is as follows: Monank Patel (captain), Aaron Jones (VC), Andries Gous, Corey Anderson, Gajanand Singh, Harmeet Singh, Jessy Singh, Milind Kumar, Nisarg Patel, Nitish Kumar, Noshtush Kenjige, Saurabh Netravalkar, Shadley Van Schalkwyk, Steven Taylor, Usman Rafiq.

Reserve players – Juanoy Drysdale, Saiteja Mukkamalla, Shayan Jahangir.

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Monank Patel commented, “With the ICC T20 World Cup looming, this series holds immense significance for our team. We have some new players coming into the squad, and these games will help us get the right combinations and prepare well for the World Cup.”

The matches are scheduled to take place from April 7 to 13 at the Prairie View Cricket Complex (PVCC), in Houston, Texas.

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The team is set to commence its preparation at PVCC from April 1 onwards, according to the USA Cricket release.

Two players from India — former Mumbai and Rajasthan Royals left-arm spinner Harmeet Singh and ex-Delhi and RCB batsman Milind Kumar — have been included in the USA squad.

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Both the players are thus in with a chance to be picked for USA’s T20I side for the T20 World Cup, which will be held in the USA and the West Indies from June 2. Interestingly, USA will face India in the competition on June 12 in New York.

Harmeet was a key part of India’s Under-19 World Cup winning team in 2012 in Australia. He retired from Indian cricket in 2021 to play professional cricket in the US. He signed a three-year contract with Major League Cricket, and played for Seattle Thunderbolt.

The 31-year-old lead his MiLC team Seattle Thunderbolts to the title in 2022, and played for the Pravin Amre-coached Seattle Orcas in the high-profile MLC, which was launched last year. Milind did well for the Texas Super Kings in MLC.

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