The T20 World Cup 2024 began recently in the United States. The USA won their first match ever in this big event by beating Canada.
Aaron Jones, born in America, was the star player for the USA. He scored 94 runs off 40 balls, leading his team to a seven-wicket victory in Dallas. Although Jones is from the US, fans noticed that many players in the American team were from different countries. The Canadian team also had players from other nations.
India is a major cricket country, but only 11 players can be in the Indian team for a T20 World Cup match. Due to tough competition in India, five Indian players moved to other countries and are now playing for them in the T20 World Cup 2024.
1. Saurabh Netravalkar, USA
Saurabh Netravalkar, born in Mumbai, is a 32-year-old left-arm fast bowler. He played for India in the U-19 World Cup 2010 with KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, and Sandeep Sharma.
Netravalkar also played domestic cricket for Mumbai. Due to limited opportunities, he moved to the USA to pursue an engineering career. Fortunately, he got a chance to restart his cricket career there. Now, he is one of the senior players on the USA team.
Nisarg Patel is another player from the USA team on the list. Born in Ahmedabad, he has been playing for the USA since 2018. He is a left-arm spin bowler and a right-handed batter.
Nisarg has played in 41 ODIs and 21 T20Is for the USA. His experience will help the American team in the ongoing T20 World Cup.
3. Monank Patel, USA captain in T20 World Cup 2024
It might surprise some fans, but the USA team’s captain, Monank Patel, is also from Gujarat. He was born in Anand, Gujarat, on May 1, 1993. The 31-year-old is the captain of the USA team and can also keep wickets.
Patel has scored 457 runs in 23 T20I innings in his career so far. He has hit two half-centuries and has a batting average of 21.76.
Uganda is joining the USA in making their debut at the T20 World Cup 2024. Cricket is new in Uganda, so their team includes some players born in other countries. One of them is all-rounder Dinesh Nakrani, who was born in the Kutch district of Gujarat. He is a left-arm medium pacer with his best T20I figures being 6/7. The 32-year-old also played domestic cricket in Saurashtra, sharing the dressing room with Cheteshwar Pujara.
5. Navneet Dhaliwal, Canada
Canada is also playing in the T20 World Cup 2024 for the first time. The team has several players with Asian backgrounds, including Navneet Dhaliwal from Chandigarh.
Dhaliwal bats in the middle order and can bowl right-arm medium pace. He gained attention by scoring 61 runs against the USA in the opening match. It will be exciting to see if he keeps playing well in the next games.