Unmukt Chand continues to be ignored by USA selectors

The selection panel of USA Cricket announced a 15-player squad for the upcoming ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup League 2 ODI Series in the Netherlands scheduled from 11th August to 21st August. This leg of CWC League 2 comprises of six ODI matches where Team USA will square off against the Netherlands and Canada twice. After this, they will meet the same opponents in a T20I series starting from 23rd August onwards. Punters would be keeping an eye on the dynamics around these upcoming games and therefore must check out cricket betting bonuses on betting.us.

USA Squad for CWC League 2 ODI & T20I Series:

ODI Squad: Monank Patel (Captain), Aaron Jones (Vice Captain), Smit Patel, Abhishek Paradkar, Harmeet Singh, Juanoy Drysdale, Jasdeep Singh, Milind Kumar, Nosthusha Kenjige, Saiteja Mukkamalla, Steven Taylor, Shayan Jahangir, Shadley Van Schalkwyk, Utkarsh Srivastava, Yasir Mohammad.

T20I Squad: Monank Patel (Captain), Aaron Jones (Vice Captain), Andries Gous, Abhishek Paradkar, Harmeet Singh, Juanoy Drysdale, Jasdeep Singh, Muhammad-Ali Khan, Nitish Kumar, Nosthusha Kenjige, Saiteja Mukkamalla, Steven Taylor, Shayan Jahangir, Utkarsh Srivastava, Yasir Mohammad.

Meanwhile, former India U19 captain Unmukt Chand continues to be ignored by the USA selectors. Chand’s hopes of reviving his international cricket career have faced a massive roadblock as he was not picked in the USA squad for the five-match T20I series against Canada. Neither was he a part of USA’s T20 World Cup squad and nor has he managed to make the cut in the aforementioned side which will travel to the Netherlands.

Chand, who led India to the ICC U19 World Cup triumph in 2012, had relocated to the USA in 2021, calling time on his career in India as he eyed greener pastures in the States. However, the move has so far not worked out for the once-promising batter.

Chand had been doing decently with the bat in USA’s Minor League Cricket. With over 1500 runs in 45 innings, he was the second-highest run scorer in the history of the league.

He ought to feel disheartened as his fine outings in the MLC and domestic cricket have not been duly recognized.

Anchoring the San Francisco Unicorns’ journey to the recent Major League Cricket final, New Zealander Corey Anderson delivered a few impressive batting and bowling performances. However, he struggled to maintain consistency throughout the tournament and has, as a result, failed to hold onto his place.

Saurabh Netravalkar, one of the chief architects of USA’s noteworthy exploits at the T20 World Cup 2024, has been granted paternal leave to be with his wife and their newborn child. Despite missing several matches in the MLC to be present for his child’s birth, Netravalkar still managed to cement his place as the league’s top wicket-taker.

The USA team has also let go of Milind Kumar (T20Is) and Nisarg Patel (both formats). Milind’s lukewarm showing at the MLC appears to have worked against him, while Nisarg has struggled to deliver the goods lately.

Another talking point from the squad announcement was the return of 31-year-old keeper-bat Smit Patel. While franchises overlooked him for the recently concluded MLC, his good work in the Houston Cricket League earned him a place ahead of Unmukt Chand, who played well in the MLC himself.