T20 World Cup 2024: USA kick off tournament and look to spring surprise in group featuring India and Pakistan

India, Pakistan, Ireland, co-hosts USA and Canada line up in Group A of the 2024 Men’s T20 World Cup, which is live in full on Sky Sports between June 1-29. Here’s all you need to know about the teams and their prospects.

India

Best result: Winners (2007)
2022 result: Semi-finalists
Coach: Rahul Dravid

Squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Sanju Samson, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj. Reserves: Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Khaleel Ahmed, Avesh Khan.

Big hitter

Yashavi Jaiswal. Arguably could be one of about six or seven in this squad but having put England’s bowlers to the sword in the Test series on home soil earlier this year, Jaiswal’s stock in the short form of the game continues to rise and he could well be a devastating presence at the top of the order alongside Rohit Sharma.

Wicket-taker

Jasprit Bumrah. India’s man for all seasons and all formats. Pitches will hopefully aid his skilful mastery of swing and seam as well as his knack of producing devastating yorkers at key moments.

Keep an eye on…

Rishabh Pant. Back in his country’s colours for the first time since his near-fatal car accident in December 2022 and alongside Sanju Samson, is expected to share wicketkeeping duties. Not only will he be handy with the gloves, he can also turn a game in the blink of an eye with his clean ball-striking and improvisation.

Prospects

How India have only won this competition once, the inaugural edition in South Africa in 2007, is something that catches you by surprise.

Roared by an expected prominent ex-pat community in New York, their group games against Ireland, Pakistan and then USA should be a spectacle both on and off the pitch before they venture down to Florida to face Canada.

Once into the latter stages, they should be among the favourites, but the same was being said two years ago before they came up against a comprehensive England performance in the semi-final.

Pakistan

Best result: Winners (2009)
2022 result: Runners-up
Coach: Gary Kirsten

Squad: Babar Azam (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Azam Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Rizwan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Afridi, Usman Khan.

Big hitter

Mohammad Rizwan. Powerful hitting and fast-scoring opener who alongside skipper Babar Azam, is likely to be looked on as a linchpin of the top order. Handy with the gloves, too, if asked to keep and a constant voice heard through the stump mic to rally the side.

Wicket-taker

Shaheen Shah Afridi. Batters watch your toes for the crushing inswinging yorkers. Has a habit of taking wickets in the powerplay or in the death overs when his side need an impact.

Keep an eye on…

Babar Azam returning as captain. He previously stepped down as leader in all formats after Pakistan failed to reach the semi-finals of the 50-over World Cup last year, but after more changes at board level, he resumed the T20 role from Shaheen Shah Afridi.

Mohammad Amir and Imad Wasim have also been coaxed out of retirement for this tournament as they bid to discover a formula to help them go one better than two years ago.

Prospects

Three times finalists, but only once victorious for Pakistan in this competition, back on a sun-kissed June afternoon at Lord’s in 2009.

Had a few more things fallen their way in the final last time out, it could easily have been them instead of England lifting the trophy at the MCG, such are the fine margins of the short-form game.

The two 2022 finalists have sized each other up on UK shores before flying across the Atlantic to begin this competition where Gary Kirsten takes charge of his first major assignment as white ball coach.

The former South Africa opener will also come up against one of his ex-employers when they take on India in New York, where the age-old rivalry will be played out in a new and somewhat unique setting.

Canada

Best result: Tournament debut
2022 result: N/A
Coach: Pubudu Dassanayake

Squad: Saad Bin Zafar (captain), Aaron Johnson, Dilon Heyliger, Dilpreet Bajwa, Harsh Thaker, Jeremy Gordon, Junaid Siddiqui, Kaleem Sana, Kanwarpal Tathgur, Navneet Dhaliwal, Nicholas Kirton, Pargat Singh, Ravinderpal Singh, Rayyankhan Pathan, Shreyas Movva. Reserves: Tajinder Singh, Aaditya Varadharajan, Ammar Khalid, Jatinder Matharu, Parveen Kumar.

Big hitter

Aaron Johnson. A Jamaican-born top-order batter who has a career strike-rate pushing 170. “He really smashes it down the ground,” broadcaster Andrew Leonard told the Sky Sports Cricket Podcast. Johnson struck a 40-ball 74 in a losing cause against USA back in April in Houston and has two centuries in the format.

Wicket-taker

Kaleem Sana. The left-arm seamer will likely take the new ball and has the very respectable average of 12.48 in his T20I career so far. A former Pakistan under-19 international who represented them in the World Cup back in 2010.

Keep an eye on…

The latest edition of the oldest international fixture in cricket history in the tournament opener in Dallas on June 1.

Canada first faced USA in September 1844 in a three-day game played at St George’s Club ground, which today is the junction of 30th Street and Broadway in Manhattan.

Canada emerged victorious by 23 runs on that occasion and no doubt they would settle for a similar result nearly 180 years later!

Prospects

Canada won the ICC Americas qualification section to reach their first T20 World Cup, but they are no strangers to ICC events, previously playing in four ODI World Cups, most recently in India in 2011.

Aside from their tournament opener against USA which they will be targeting as a winnable fixture, they will hope fortunes allow them to repeat a four-run win over next opponents Ireland four years ago.

USA

Best result: Tournament debut
2022 result: N/A
Coach: Stuart Law

Squad: Monank Patel (captain), Aaron Jones, Steven Taylor, Corey Anderson, Saurabh Netravalkar, Jessy Singh, Harmeet Singh, Nosthush Kenjige, Shadley Van Schalkwyk, Nitish Kumar, Andries Gous, Shayan Jahangir, Ali Khan, Nisarg Patel, Milind Kumar. Reserves: Gajanand Singh, Juanoy Drysdale, Yasir Mohammad.

Big hitter

Corey Anderson

The former New Zealand all-rounder has switched allegiance after emigrating to the USA at the start of Major League Cricket and can still pack a punch with his lusty left-handed power hitting.

Anderson, now 33, played in the 2015 World Cup final for the Black Caps and once held the record for the fastest century in ODIs off 36 balls.

Wicket-taker

Ali Khan. A right-arm quick bowler who has plied his trade in recent years in the Caribbean Premier League, Emirates T20 and the Pakistan Super League. But having recovered from a hamstring tear, this will be his first international T20 outing since 2022.

Caught the eye with a career-best 3-25 in their series-clinching win over Bangladesh earlier this month.

Keep an eye on…

How the co-hosts will be received by the “home” crowds in New York, Dallas and Lauderhill in Florida.

USA Cricket has been through a series of turbulent changes in administration and financial management in recent years. But after the launch of Major League Cricket in Dallas and North Carolina last year, there appears to now be a sustainable plan for tapping into the British and south Asian ex-pat communities across the country to try and grow the game.

Prospects

Hard to know beyond the tournament-opener against fellow associate nation Canada in Dallas.

USA recently beat their old enemy 4-0 in a five-match T20I series in April so the omens would point to more success against their neighbours. But perhaps the more significant on the eve of the tournament have been two wins against Bangladesh.

A five-wicket win was quickly followed by a six-run series-clinching victory in Texas earlier this month, just their second and third T20I victories against a full member nation after beating Ireland in 2021.

Former Australia batter and county cricket overseas stalwart Stuart Law is relatively new in the role as head coach so may only be beginning to put his stamp on the side.

Ireland

Best result: Super 12s (2022)
2022 result: Super 12s
Coach: Heinrich Malan

Squad: Paul Stirling (captain), Mark Adair, Ross Adair, Andrew Balbirnie, Curtis Campher, Gareth Delany, George Dockrell, Graham Hume, Josh Little, Barry McCarthy, Neil Rock, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker, Ben White, Craig Young.

Big hitter

Paul Stirling. A man who has been plying his trade making big runs at the top of the order around the world for many a year now and still possesses the potential to dazzle with a quickfire 50 or even 100.

Has the added burden of captaincy this time around though so will be interesting to see how he balances those responsibilities.

Wicket-taker

Josh Little. Has made a breakthrough for Gujurat Titans in this year’s IPL, an achievement which convinced Ireland’s selectors to let him stay on in India until the eve of the T20 World Cup to continue tuning up instead of facing Pakistan in their recent three-match series.

Keep an eye on…

Curtis Campher. The South African-born seam bowling all-rounder could play a crucial role in the middle-order and the middle overs with both bat and ball in hand. Also has the ability to engineer a run out with his electric fielding.

Switched allegiances to Ireland back in 2020 and immediately made an impact with a half-century on ODI debut against England at Southampton.

Prospects

Turbulent times off the field in Irish cricket administration have recently seen the men’s side reject new central contracts before later accepting revised terms.

Continuing uncertain financial times have led to moves including cancelling plans to host a series against Australia and instead move “home” matches to the UAE to make them more attractive to broadcasters.

But amid the chaos, Ireland still remain a side capable of causing an upset, including in their recent T20 series on home soil against fellow group A side Pakistan where they won the first of three matches and two years ago at the MCG against England, winning a rain-affected Super 12s match by five runs.

Watch every match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in the Caribbean and USA live on Sky Sports Cricket. Also stream with NOW.

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