Harmeet Singh, Milind Kumar named in USA's squad for Canada T20Is

Left-arm spinner Harmeet Singh and batter Milind Kumar were picked up for the 15-member squad of the United States of America (USA) for the upcoming T20I series against Canada. They will play five T20Is from April 7 to 13 in Houston, Texas. Monank Patel will lead the side in the forthcoming series while Aaron Jones will serve as his deputy. The forthcoming series will be a dress rehearsal for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup later this year, with USA making their debut in the tournament.

Notably, both players were likely to be selected for the much-awaited ICC global event which is scheduled to be held in the USA and West Indies from June 1 The first match in the marquee event will see the clash between the USA and Canada at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Texas. 

Harmeet, a former Mumbai and Rajasthan Royals left-arm spinner was part of India’s Under-19 World Cup-winning team in Australia in 2012. His captain in that Indian side, Unmukt Chand, who had moved to the USA to participate in the Major Cricket League (MLC) was not included. Meanwhile, former New Zealand all-rounder Corey Anderson has been selected.

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Harmeet retired from Indian cricket in 2021 to play cricket in the USA. After moving to the US, the 31-year-old signed a three-year contract with MLC featured for Seattle Thunderbolt and led the team to the MiLC (Minor League Cricket) title in 2022. He also played for Seattle Orcas, coached by Pravin Amre in MLC starting in 2023. Milind, former Delhi and RCB batter has played well in MiLC and also for Texas Super Kings in MLC. 

How is former New Zealand cricketer Corey Anderson eligible to play for the USA?

Corey Anderson had featured in 13 Tests, 49 ODIs, and 31 T20Is for the Kiwis before moving to the USA to play professional cricket. The 33-year-old immigrated to the US in 2020 and has been a consistent performer in the domestic setup. Hereby, in 2023, he became eligible to play for the USA.

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ICC rules state: 'Where a male Player is seeking to qualify to play for an Associate or Affiliate Member, he must not have participated in an International Match for any other National Cricket Federation (irrespective of its membership status) during the immediately preceding four years, save that in the event that the male Player is seeking to return and play for the Associate or Affiliate Member that he originally played for prior to qualifying to play for a Full Member, the four year stand out period referred to in this Article 3.3.2 shall be reduced to two years.'

Squad: Monank Patel (c), 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.