Unmukt Chand Snubbed By USA From T20 World Cup Squad; Corey Anderson To Become Fifth Player In The World To...

The United States of America (USA) announced their squad for the T20 World Cup 2024 on Friday, May 3, as they are set to host a major cricket tournament for the first time in history. The USA will also be participating in the event for the first time in history.

There was expectation that Unmukt Chand, who captained India to the U-19 World Cup title in 2012, would be part of the squad in the 2024 edition.

In fact, a few days ago, the 31-year-old expressed his desire to play against India when the two teams go head-to-head on June 12 in New York. However, he found no place in the 15-man squad.

"[It is] something which would be very strange (laughs), but I think since I've retired from India, my next goal was always to sort of play against India, and not in any bad blood but keen to test myself out against the best team in the world," said Chand to Cricbuzz.

Chand retired from Indian cricket in 2021 and moved to the USA in the hope of playing international cricket, having featured in the minor and major cricket leagues. However, he has yet to get a call-up for the national team, despite being eligible to play for them.

However, there is Indian representation in the USA squad, with Milind Kumar being the highlight name. Milind played for Delhi and finished as the as the top scorer in the 2018-19 Ranji Trophy before moving to America after retiring from Indian cricket in 2021. Milind made his debut for USA in April 2024 against Canada.

Harmeet Singh, part of India's 2012 T20 World Cup-winning squad led by Chand, is part of the USA team. The captain of the American team, Monak Patel, is of Gujarati origin but was granted a green card in 2016. Sourabh Netravalkar, was part of the Indian 2010 U-19 World Cup team alongside KL Rahul, Jaydev Unadkat, and Mayank Agarwal. He played a Ranji Trophy match for Mumbai in 2013-14 against Karnataka before quittng cricket and moving to USA to pursue a computer science course.

Corey Anderson Creates History
However, the big news comes in the form of ex-New Zealand star all-rounder Corey Anderson being included in the 15-man squad. Corey had retired from New Zealand cricket in 2020 and moved to the USA. He made his debut last month against Canada.

Corey will become only the fourth cricketer in history to play the T20 World Cup for two countries after Roelof van der Merwe, Dirk Nannes, and David Wiese. The ex-New Zealand cricketer played the Black Caps in the 2014 and 2016 edition. van der Merwe played for South Africa in 2010 and Netherlands in 2016. Nannes played for Netherlands in 2009 and Australia in 2010. Weise was part of South Africa's tema in 201 and Namibia in 2021.

Mark Chapman will also join the elusive list having played for Hong Kong in 2014 and be part of New Zealand's squad in 2024.

USA Squad For T20 World Cup 2024: Monank Patel (Captain), Aaron Jones (Vice-captain), Steven Taylor, Corey Anderson, Saurabh Netravalkar, Jessy Singh, Harmeet Singh, Noshtush Kenjige, Shadley Van Schalkwyk, Nitish Kumar, Andries Gous, Shayan Jahangir, Ali Khan, Nisarg Patel, Milind Kumar.