Global T20 Canada Heightens Focus on Canadian Cricket Development

Ten additional roster spots for Canadians across five franchise teams. As part of its commitment towards the growth of Canadian cricket, Mercuri Canada Ltd., promoters of Global T20 Canada, have agreed with Cricket Canada to include 10 additional local players in the inaugural edition of the professional Twenty20 cricket league. All five franchise teams – Edmonton Royals, Montreal Tigers, Toronto Nationals, Vancouver Knights, Winnipeg Hawks – will receive two players each.  These players will have a unique opportunity to observe and learn from some of the top international stars in the world of cricket.

Vancouver Knights  : Jimmy Hansra – All Rounder , Ravinderpal Singh – Right Hand Batsman. Edmonton Royals :Bupinder Singh Sohal – Left Arm Batsman, Varun Sehdev – All Rounder. Toronto Nationals –Navneet Dhaliwal – All Rounder, Armaan Kapoor – Right Hand Batsman. Montreal Tigers –Arslan Khan – All Rounder, Bhavindu Adhihetty – All Rounder. Winnipeg Hawks –Dhanuka Pathirana –  Right Hand Batsman, Faisal Jamkhandi – Right Arm Medium Pacer.

India make merry at Ireland

India 208/5 in 20 overs (Rohit Sharma 97, Shikhar Dhawan 74; Peter Chase 4/35); Ireland 132/9 in 20 overs (James Shannon 60; Kuldeep Yadav 4/21, YS Chahal 3/38)

India used their T20 against Ireland to prepare for the tough series ahead in England by putting up a dominant performance as they outclassed Ireland by a whopping 76 run.  Dubbed as a dress rehearsal for the marquee England series, the Indian team out-batted the opposition by scoring an imposing 208/5, courtesy openers Rohit Sharma (97 off 61 balls) and Shikhar Dhawan (74 off 45 balls).

In reply, Ireland could only manage 132/9 in 20 overs despite a breezy innings of 60 off 35 balls by opener James Shannon. The Irish batsmen didn’t have a clue about how to play chinaman Kuldeep Yadav (4/21 in 4 overs). Yuzvendra Chahal was hit for four sixes but eventually ended with figures of 3/38 in his four over spell. As Kuldeep-Chahal ran through the top and middle-order, it was beyond the lower-order to make a match of it. Such was their plight that save Shannon, none of the other batsmen could score above 15.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar (0/16 in 4 overs) and Jasprit Bumrah (2/19 in 4 overs) were as usual steady at the start and effective at the death.  However, a lot of credit should go to Rohit, who missed out on a well-deserved third T20 international century. The Indian vice-captain made amends for his poor IPL form with a breathtaking innings in the company of an in-form Dhawan, who was also keen to send the bowlers in a leather hunt.