Controversies cloud Canada’s maiden T20 World Cup
Canada secured their first appearance in a T20 World Cup when they beat Bermuda in the final game of the ICC Americas Qualifiers last fall. Only one team was set to make it from the regional qualifier with USA automatically qualified as hosts. It rounded out a successful year for Canada where they regained ODI status again after 9 years. Things were looking up even as recently as the ODI tri-series in UAE where Canada demolished Scotland and Oman. However, as with everything in Canadian Cricket, there will always be drama at the end.
The first course of drama begins with administrative issues which has long plagued cricket in the country. Administrators elected or appointed to serve the players and fans have been questionable, at best. All of these are avoidable issues but remains as the single most reason for multiple challenges. The recent events are even more puzzling. On April 13, Amjad Bajwa was announced as the new President of Cricket Canada after serving as Vice-President in the previous term. There are questions in social media raised by Bhavjit Jauhar from British Columbia regarding Amjad Bajwa’s appointment and whether all the correct procedures were followed. A three-man nomination committee had supposedly voided his nomination but was eventually overruled by the Board of Directors. It’s unsettling as fans and players to have such information come to light as it makes a mockery of cricket in Canada.
Next up are the names of the three selectors who were recently appointed by Cricket Canada. Although no media releases were made from Cricket Canada, it’s known that the selection committee includes Abhishek Sharma, Nav(?) Singh and Rohan Jayasekera. As per Cricket Canada, the following are the qualifications required to be National Selection Panel Members:
• Has represented Cricket Canada or a full/associate member at International Competitions
• Has outstanding administrative, organizational and communication skills
• Should NOT be a Provincial Member Representative or a member of the Board of Directors
• Cricket Canada National Coach
Rohan Jayasekera is a dual National representative after representing both Sri Lanka and Canada in international cricket. 66 year old Jayasekera made his debut for Sri Lanka in an ODI in 1982 and would go on to play only one more ODI about a month later. He is also part of the illustrious one-test club with his only Test cap coming in March 1982. After moving to Canada, he went on to represent Canada in four ICC Trophy matches. There is limited information regarding Nav Singh and Abhishek Sharma’s international accolades but it can be said with certainty that neither has represented Canada or a full/associate member at the highest level. Aside from the mystery around his full first name, there isn’t much revealed about Nav Singh at all. There’s a lot more questionable about Abhishek Sharma’s appointment as he is currently the Head Coach of British Columbia Men’s Provincial Team and a coach at Stallions Cricket Academy — one of the biggest academies in Canada. All of these roles while being a national selector are grounds for conflict of interest. Hence, the question rises — how were two of the three members allowed to become Cricket Canada Selectors without fulfilling the requirements? Also not clear is the Chairman of the National Selection Panel and who serves as selector on tour — whether it’s left to the coach completely or one of the selectors travel with the squad. There is also grounds to ponder whether the coach was the only selector till now since no selection panel was appointed till recently.
Now onto the main bit — the squad and it’s training regimen. It’s been revealed that the squad has not trained together for over a week as controversies start to build up on a regular basis. There are even more controversies regarding some of the rumored selections and non-selections over the past few days in Canadian Cricket circles. It has come to light that wicket-keeper batter Srimantha Wijeyaratne and mystery spinner Nikhil Dutta are among those dropped for the T20 World Cup after the recent 4–0 drubbing to USA. Srimantha had originally announced his retirement from international cricket on December 28, 2021 but was lured back to the mix after the reappointment of Pubudu Dassanayake as Head Coach. Also lured back to Represent the Red was mystery spinner Nikhil Dutta who comes with experience in CPL, MiLC and BPL alongside his national honours.
In 9 games at the Global T20 Canada, Srimantha had 41 runs in 5 innings with a best of 15* and strike rate of 87.23. His 12(15) in the final against Surrey Jaguars capped off a tournament where he had also struggled behind the stumps. Out of his 5 innings, 3 of them came in the knockout stage after the departure of Shakib Al Hasan. Throughout the tournament, youngster Dilpreet Singh Bajwa was trusted to bat in the middle-order ahead of him. In comparison, National Team backup wicket-keeper Shreyas Movva only played two matches but left a lasting impression with his bravery and positivity. He took on Australian quick Spencer Johnson as he went on to score 48 runs in 2 innings with a strike rate of 106.66. Verteran Hamza Tariq also had a moderate tournament with the bat. Hamza scored 84 runs off 6 innings with a strike rate of 118.30. Despite the conditions at TD Cricket Arena leaving a lot to be desired, Srimantha failed to capitalize on his opportunities and was frequently tentative against quality bowlers. In the recently completed T20I series vs. USA, Srimantha failed to pass 10 in all three occasions. His returns as opener included 9(16), 0(1) and 7(9) as Canada failed to lay a platform in the powerplay throughout the series. Furthermore, Srimantha has recently had great returns for Canada in ODIs while also being a massive part of them regaining ODI status. However, ODI form and return cannot be used to justify T20I selection. Therefore, it might be a hard pill to swallow but it is a dropping that makes a lot of sense if Canada were to pick attacking batters such as Rayyankhan Pathan, Aaditya Varadharajan (Tamil Nadu Premier League experience), Shreyas Movva or Hamza Tariq. Aaditya had 127 runs in 4 innings at a strike rate of 127.83 at the recent TNPL. His final innings was 73(50) against a bowling attack that featured Sandeep Warrier and Sonu Yadav — both of whom have extensive experience at the IPL. Rayyan is a naturally aggressive opener who has at times been forced to bat as a finisher during the Global T20. However, his T20I numbers are outstanding with 463 runs in 11 innings with a hundred at an average of 51.44 and 161.32 strike rate. Despite a struggling start in the selection camp series, Rayyan looked to be finding his mojo with a 51(30), 27(24) and 37(46) in the final three innings of the tour. He wasn’t selected for the USA series. Canada needs an attacking batter to partner Aaron Johnson at the top should they look to put any pressure on the opposition.
It is impossible and illogical to pick someone as a specialist wicket-keeper in a T20I squad if they’re not part of your six best batters with options such as Shreyas Movva or Hamza Tariq available to bat in multiple positions as wicket-keeper batters. Rumours suggest that Alberta wicket-keeper batter Kanwarpal Tathgur has been picked in the squad ahead of Hamza Tariq. In the 2023 Men’s National T20 Championship, Kanwarpal was the highest run scorer with 143 runs but at a mediocre strike rate of 88.82 while not playing a single game at the Global T20 Canada. At a time when Canada should be looking for impact players, it is a selection that makes very little sense.
As rumored, Nikhil Dutta has also been dropped from the World Cup bound squad. If there is anyone who can feel hard done by — it is him. For long Nikhil has been a reliable option for Canada despite the off-color recent tour to USA. He struggled a little against Dallas Mustangs in the pre-tour series but his first appearance in the series was in the fourth T20I where he returned figures of 18/0 from his 4 overs. He really tied down the USA batters on a tough pitch and didn’t offer at all. For comparison, skipper Saad Zafar and vice-captain Harsh Thaker conceded more runs than him and didn’t finish their quota. Nikhil struggled to land his deliveries as efficiently in the final T20I as he went for 24 from his 2 overs against ex-teammate (and captain) Nitish Kumar and newest USA debutant Corey Anderson. Dutta also bowled a crucial spell against Bermuda in the final match of the ICC T20 World Cup qualifiers where he used the conditions very well to keep Bermuda tied down in a must-win game. With 24 wickets in 24 matches at an economy of 6.35, Dutta is Canada’s second best spinner and replacing him will definitely leave a dent in an otherwise inexperienced bowling lineup as Canada faces a race against time to secure a visa for Kaleem Sana.
Although the inconsistency from an experienced bowler such as Dutta can be a little puzzling, there are also questions regarding his fitness. Canada also hasn’t offered much game time to either left arm spinners in Shahid Ahmadzai or Parveen Dhull to have options available should they need to drop Dutta. Dhull in particular only played one game in the previous series, bowled well to remove Steven Taylor and break the 104 run opening partnership. He was astonishingly dropped for the next fixture. Both spinners had done relatively well in their appearances at the GT20. Ahmadzai in particular was the highest wicket taker amongst Canadian bowlers. His exploits also included a 15*(4) after walking out to bat in the last over against Vancouver Knights. Parveen picked up 4 wickets in 5 games as he maintained his reputation of containing the batters. He was also the MVP for Super9 Division in 2023 — the highest level of club (domestic) cricket in Canada.
A major part of Canada’s problems rests in their middle order batting. Navneet Dhaliwal, Nicholas Kirton and Pargat Singh have all been rather disappointing in recent times. All three batters have been very tenative and unwilling to play positive cricket. Despite having first-class experience, Pargat was kept quiet throughout the USA series. He wasn’t free flowing and rarely put the pressure back on the bowler. In four innings, Pargat only had 62 runs at a strike rate of 92.53 at №3. In comparison, USA’s №3 Andries Gous had 111 runs in 3 innings at a strike rate of 154.16 which helped USA put Canada’s backs against the wall. For Kirton, it’s his 37* off 39 balls in 2019 T20 World Cup Qualifiers that costed Canada a berth in the 2021 T20 World Cup. Five years on, his game seems to have not opened up as much as one would hope for someone with first-class and List A experience for Barbados. Although he has struck at over run a ball in most innings, he still struggles to get off the blocks early. His game seems limited against spin time to time along with falling prey to change off pace from seamers. Navneet Dhaliwal has been mediocre for a while now in T20Is with the pattern continuing in the USA series where he notched up only 6 runs in two innings. Despite being a good ODI player, Navneet’s time in the T20I circuit seems limited with many expansive and explosive options waiting in the wings. T20I Cricket has changed massively and batters have to be willing to take more risks but unfortunately that hasn’t been the case for Canada’s middle order. They can take a leaf out of Dilpreet Bajwa’s approach and how a young batter continues to triumph his senior teammates.
There are many other issues that needs to be addressed before the World Cup. Skipper Saad Bin Zafar has been very reluctant to bowl himself in the powerplay or against left handed batters. He is by far Canada’s best wicket-taking option on any given day and needs to trust himself more in all situations. His tactics are very matchup based which restricts his creative approach in a game that is now very intuition and data oriented. The data is out there and it needs to be comprehended correctly for Canada to have success at the World Cup. Canada’s seam attack seems very thin without the inclusion of Kaleem Sana. None of the other bowlers have really broke the door down to demand selection whereas there is also a lack of support to play an enforcer role along with Dilon Heyliger. Whenever Heyliger put the pressure on the batters from one end with back of a length deliveries, runs leaked on the other end. He was also not willing to use the short ball as much earlier in the series but adjusted to the conditions towards the end. Rishiv Joshi seemed brave with his ability to experiment and bowl variations while Uday Bhagwan Singh continues to be unimpressive in his short career till now. Hence, Canada needs the services of experienced pros in Sana, Jeremy Gordon and Ammar Khalid but rumours suggest Ammar might be snubbed. He seems to catch the short end of the stick ever since Andre Russell picked him off for 17 runs in the final of the GT20 Canada. All of this and you still run into potential drama surrounding the new board and their attempt at alientating coach Pubudu Dassanayake. It is said that he was excluded from all communications and none of his suggestions were considered in picking the squad for the T20 World Cup.
Is this a return to the dark times again for Canada? We will find out shortly.
