India-origin Bajwa to lead Canada in T20 World Cup

NEW DELHI (Agencies): India-born Dilpreet Bajwa will lead Canada at the Twenty20 World Cup next month, the country’s cricket board said on Wednesday as it announced a 15-member squad for the competition. Bajwa, 22, who has featured in nine ODIs and 17 T20Is, will make his debut as captain at the global showpiece, which will be co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka from February 7 to March 8. Canada, making their second appearance at the tournament, are in Group D alongside South Africa, New Zealand, Afghanistan, and the United Arab Emirates. Their campaign opens against South Africa on February 9 in Ahmedabad, with all their group-stage matches set to be played in India. Bajwa, who has four half-centuries and a strike rate of 133.22 in T20Is, will be seen alongside power-hitter Yuvraj Samra, former captain Saad Bin Zafar, Dilon Heyliger, Nicholas Kirton and Navneet Dhaliwal among others in the squad. Canada secured their spot in the tournament by winning all six of their matches in the Americas Regional Final. In their previous World Cup appearance, Canada finished fourth in their group, with a single win over Ireland.

CANADA SQUAD

Dilpreet Bajwa (captain), Ajayveer Hundal, Ansh Patel, Dilon Heyliger, Harsh Thaker, Jaskarandeep Buttar, Kaleem Sana, Kanwarpal Tathgur, Navneet Dhaliwal, Nicholas Kirton, Ravinderpal Singh, Saad Bin Zafar, Shivam Sharma, Shreyas Movva, Yuvraj Samra.