Cricket Canada has confirmed its final 15-man squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup, with a couple of surprising inclusions and one key figure retaining his position. Pubudu Dassanayake, the Sri Lankan-born coach, will remain at the helm after a board meeting overruled an earlier decision to relieve him of his duties.
“Hopefully we can put this all behind us,” Dassanayake told Cricbuzz. “The team has worked very hard to get here and we’re looking forward to our first match.”
Nikhil Dutta returns, Harsh Thaker misses out
The final squad announcement also saw some changes to the playing personnel. Spinner Nikhil Dutta, who was initially omitted, has been recalled. Left-arm seamer Rishiv Joshi is another new addition to the squad.
Missing out on selection is batsman Kanwarpal Tathgur and spin all-rounder Harsh Thaker. Thaker took to social media to express his disappointment at the way he was dropped, claiming he was “betrayed and disrespected” by the lack of communication.
Cricket Canada clarified that Thaker, who is recovering from an injury, was deemed unfit for the tournament’s group stage based on a fitness assessment.
More on T20 WC:
Canada ready to make mark
With the team finalized and any coaching controversy settled, Canada can now fully focus on the task at hand. They have two warm-up matches against Nepal and the Netherlands next week before kicking off their World Cup campaign against co-hosts USA on June 1st in Dallas.
Canada, appearing in their first T20 World Cup, will be looking to cause an upset in Group A, which also includes powerhouses India and Pakistan.
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Canada T20 World Cup squad
Canada Squad: Saad bin Zafar (c), Aaron Johnson, Ravinderpal Singh, Navneet Dhaliwal, Nicholas Kirton, Shreyas Movva, Nikhil Dutta, Pargat Singh, Rayyankhan Pathan, Dilpreet Bajwa, Dilon Heyliger, Junaid Siddiqui, Jeremy Gordon, Kaleem Sana, Rishiv Joshi.
Coach: Pubudu Dassanayake | Assistant coach: Khurram Chohan | Assistant manager: Gurdeep Klair.
