A look at how the eight teams stack up for the USACA T20 National Championship
Peter Della Penna02-Apr-2015Group ACentral East
The squad wound up on the receiving end of some very harsh beatings in last year’s tournament. On paper, they have the weakest team in the group mainly owing to a lack of overall depth. At the top of the order, they are led by captain Fahad Babar, who was USA’s leading scorer at last October’s ICC WCL Division Three in Malaysia. Central East also hold one of the country’s best slow bowlers in offspinner Muhammad Ghous. They are also boosted by the presence of former USA wicketkeeper Ashhar Mehdi, but they will be heavily dependent on Babar to keep them competitive in matches.Central West Central West competed hard at this tournament in 2014 but ultimately ended winless. They may find it hard going again this year with Usman Shuja and Orlando Baker absent. The region’s talent drain took another big hit with the retirement of Sushil Nadkarni and the departure of young allrounder Ryan Corns, who has relocated to Australia. On the plus side, they have former Tamil Nadi Ranji Trophy representative Dhandapani Devarasan back for the second year in a row. The squad also contains the promising fast bowler Shuja Naqvi, who spent the winter training in Australia at the Darren Lehmann Academy. They’ll be coached once again by former Pakistan international Asif Mujtaba.New YorkDespite being without Massiah and Marshall, New York are traditionally rich with talent and still remain a contender. Adam Sanford, who took three wickets in the curtailed final, is missing this year but has been replaced in the squad by another former West Indies Test bowler in Jermaine Lawson. Current USA allrounder Karan Ganesh should play a key role in their fortunes while Akeem Dodson, Barrington Bartley, Nicholas Standford and the big hitting Quasen Alfred will all be pushing hard to get back into the USA squad for next month.USA Development XIThis squad is a mixed bag. It features several Los Angeles area talents including last year’s USACA T20 Nationals MVP, Nisarg Patel. Former Gujarat legspinner Timil Patel, who toured with USA in Malaysia last year, is also a key component and can provide middle-order runs as well. Two players to keep an eye on who are consistently on the doorstep to selection are fast bowlers Jasdeep Singh, who impressed last year with the Central West, and Hammad Shahid.Group BAtlanticAtlantic boast one of the better bowling attacks in the tournament, including two good spinners in Ryan Persaud and Danial Ahmed, as well as experienced pacers in Imran Awan and Adil Bhatti. Their batting, which was slightly weak last year, is boosted by the addition of former USA international Andy Mohammed. Charan Singh and Raj Bhavsar will be eager to build on encouraging performances they had in 2014.North EastThe weakest team in Group B, they may wind up going winless with a squad that is largely inexperienced. Hard-hitting Sharaz Baksh and former Karnataka player Aditya Mishra, their opening combo from last year, are not in this year’s traveling party with Mishra now playing for North West. The squad does have a few players with the ability to clear the ropes in captain Twain Walter, Akil Husbands and Jonathan Bonner but the deck will be stacked against them.North WestAfter finishing with two wins from three games last year, North West have gotten much stronger and enter as the clear tournament favorites. Two major additions to the team are wicketkeeper Ritesh Kadu, who played last year for South West, and Mishra, who turned out for the North East in 2014. They are the two players with the best chances of filling the vacancies left in the USA squad by the retirements of Nadkarni and Aditya Thyagarajan. The team is a phenomenal fielding group and has outstanding depth with captain Srini Santhanam, Pranay Suri, Saqib Saleem, Krish Goel, Pranay Suri, Naseer Jamali, Vibhav Altekar all having represented USA at junior or senior level.South EastBehind the solid captaincy of Japen Patel, South East made a surprising run to the final in 2014. Anything less than a semifinal spot would be a disappointment with the core of last year’s team returning. Besides the explosive Steven Taylor, the team also boasts a solid crew of young talent in Dunae Nathaniel, Shaquille Forbes, Kushal Ganji and Omari Williams. While they will miss last year’s USACA T20 leading wicket-taker, former Windward Islands legspinner Camilus Alexander, the squad’s batting strength is enhanced by the return of opener Timothy Surujbally.
