Canadian cricketers joins marquee names from abroad in fourth edition of GT20 Canada

TORONTO — Australian all-rounder Marcus Stoinis and Pakistan captain Babar Azam, vice-captain Mohammad Rizwan and pace bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi are among the marquee cricket names slated to play in this summer’s GT20 Canada competition.

The fourth edition of the T20 tournament runs July 25 to Aug. 11 in Brampton, Ont.

The six-team competition features the defending champion Montreal Tigers, Toronto Nationals, Brampton Wolves, Vancouver Knights, Surrey Jaguars and Bangla Tigers Mississauga.

This summer’s edition marks a homecoming for the 23rd-ranked Canada team that made its debut at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, currently in the Super-8 stage in the West Indies. Led by captain Saad Bin Zafar, the Canadians recorded their first win at the T20 World Cup when they beat No. 11 Ireland by 12 runs on June 7.

Zafar is joined on the Toronto Nationals roster by Canadian teammates Nicholas Kirton and Nikhil Dutta.

Other Canadian World Cup team members taking part are Pargat Singh, Dilon Heyliger and Rayyan Pathan (Bangla Tigers Mississauga), Aaron Johnson and Ravinderpal Singh (Brampton Wolves), Kaleem Sana and Dilpreet Singh Bajwa (Montreal Tigers), Shreyas Movva, Navneet Dhaliwal and Junaid Siddiqu (Surrey Jaguars), and Jeremy Gordon and Rishiv Joshi (Vancouver Knights).

Teams were chosen via draft with sides allowed to retain a number of players from last year, if so desired.

Players returning from last year include Logan van Beek of the Netherlands (Surrey Jaguars), Australia’s Chris Lynn and Sherfane Rutherford of the West Indies (Montreal Tigers), and New Zealand’s Colin Munro (Toronto Nationals).

The Vancouver Knights won the inaugural tournament in 2018 with the Winnipeg Hawks emerging victorious in 2019. There was no competition in 2020 or 2021 due to the pandemic.

The player pool draws on talent from Canada, Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, Italy, Malaysia, Namibia, Nepal, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa United Arab Emirates, the U.S., and the West Indies.

India does not allow its players to take part in foreign leagues, unless they are retired from international cricket and not playing in the domestic IPL.

The tournament is broadcast around the world with markets outside of Canada taking in last year’s competition including Australia, Bangladesh, India Nepal, Pakistan, South Africa, the U.S., United Kingdon as well as the Middle East.

GT20 Rosters (Players are Canadian unless otherwise noted, x- denotes retained player)

Bangla Tigers Mississauga

Shakib Al Hasan, Bangladesh; Iftikhar Ahmed, Pakistan; Hazratullah Zazai Afghanistan; Mohammad Shoriful Islam, Bangladesh; Odean Smith West Indies; David Wiese, Namibia; Muhamma Waseem, U.A.E.; Farhan Khan, U.A.E.; Nav Pabreja, U.A.E.; Pargat Singh; Dilon Heyliger; Rayyan Pathan; Gurpal Sidhu; Tajinder Singh; Navjot Dosanjh; Ravinder Reddy; Gurbaz Bajwa.

Brampton Wolves

David Warner, Australia; Andrew Tye, Australia; Beau Webster, Australia; Joshua Brown, Australia; Carlos Brathwaite, West Indies; Kobe Herft, England; Muhammad Jawad Ullah, U.A.E.; George Munsey, Scotland; Aryan Dutt, the Netherlands; Jack Jarvis, Scotland; x-Aaron Johnson; Ravinderpal Singh; Kanwar Thagur; Abhijai Mansingh; Akil Kumar; Robin Singh; Samerjeet Singh; Harmandeep Bahia.

Montreal Tigers

x-Chris Lynn, Australia; x-Sherfane Rutherford, West Indies; Naveen Ul Haq, Afghanistan; Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Afghanistan; Azmatullah Omarzai, Afghanistan; Mohammad Saifuddin, Bangladesh; Tom Latham, New Zealand; Gerhard Erasmus, Namibia; Ben Manenti, Italy; x-Aayan Afzal Khan, U.A.E.; Zahoor Khan, U.A.E.; x-Kaleem Sana; x-Dilpreet Singh Bajwa; Parveen Dhull; Aaditya Varadharajan; Anoop Ravi; Prabhasees Raina, Yuvraj Hundal, Charanjit Randhawa.

Surrey Jaguars

Marcus Stoinis, Australia; Sunil Narine, West Indies; Kyle Mayers, West Indies; Mohammad Nabi, Afghanistan; Ben Lister, New Zealand; Terrance Hinds, West Indies; Harmeet Baddhan, U.S.; Brandon McMullen, Scotland; Logan Van Beek, the Netherlands; Virandeep Singh, Malaysia; Shreyas Movva; Navneet Dhaliwal; Junaid Siddiqui; Hamza Tariq; Uday Bhagwan Singh; Mansab Gill; Padam Joshi; Rizwan Cheema.

Toronto Nationals

Shaheen Shah Afridi, Pakistan; x-Colin Munro, New Zealand; Romario Shepherd, West Indies; Rassie Van Der Dussen, South Africa; Mohammad Nawaz, Pakistan; Rishad Hossain, Bangladesh; Andries Gous, U.S.; Junaid Siddique, U.A.E.; Rohid Khan, U.A.E.; Rohit Paudel, Nepal; x-Saad Bin Zafar, Canada; x-Nicholas Kirton, Canada; Nikhil Dutta, Canada; Armaan Kapoor; Dilraj Deol, Canada; Jatinder Matharu; Kanwar Mann; Jagandeep Singh.

Vancouver Knights

Babar Azam, Pakistan; Mohammad Amir, Pakistan; x-Mohammad Rizwan, Pakistan; Asif Ali, Pakistan; Michael Rippon, New Zealand; Dwaine Pretorius, South Africa; Sandeep Lamicchane, Nepal; Paul Van Meekeran, the Netherlands; Dipendra Singh Airee, Nepal; Ruben Trumpelmanbvn, Namibia; Jeremy Gordon; x-Harsh Thaker; Rishiv Joshi; Yuvraj Samra; Shubham Sharma; Ajayveer Singh; Sarmad Anwar; Mandeep Girdhar.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 22, 2024.

Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press