Guyanese all-rounders Keemo Paul and Sherfane Rutherford are two of five players with Guyanese origin who were snapped up at Season Two Draft of Canada’s Global T20 League staged Thursday.
Both Paul and Rutherford are active West Indian players who participated in the 2018 Hero Caribbean Premier League, where they had an impressive outing for Guyana Amazon Warriors.
Paul, who will play his first year in the league, was drafted by Montreal Tigers, while Rutherford, who played with the West Indies B team last year, will turn out for Edmonton Royals.
Rutherford was the third highest run-scorer last season with 230 runs in eight matches, inclusive of his maiden T20 ton, which was also the inaugural tournament’s lone hundred.
Both players participated in this year’s Indian Premier League for Delhi Capitals, who made the playoff for the first time after seven years.
The other players with Guyanese origin picked at the Draft were Dilon Heyliger, Jeremy Gordon and Mark Montfort. Those three players migrated and now play for the Canada National team.
Chris Gayle, Daren Sammy, Sunil Narine, Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Pollard, Andre Russell, Dwayne Smith, Lendl Simmons, Chadwick Walton, Rayad Emrit and Andre Fletcher were the other West Indian players selected.
The international roster features the likes of Brendon McCullum, George Bailey, Yuvraj Singh, Shakib Al Hasan, Chris Lynn and Kane Williamson.
The second season of the Global T20 Canada league is set to begin on July 25, with defending champions Vancouver Knights facing hosts Toronto Nationals in the opening game.
The tournament will have 22 matches, including three playoffs, with the final taking place on August 11.
Vancouver Knights: Chris Gayle, Shoaib Malik, Andre Russell, Tim Southee, Rassie van der Dussen, Chadwick Walton, Daniel Sam, Najibullah Zadran, Hayden Walsh Jr, Johannes Smitt, Tobias Bisse, Michael Rippon, Ali Khan, Saad Zafar, Rizwan Cheema, Rayaan Pathan, Naresh Thaker.
Edmonton Royals: Kane Williamson, Faf du Plessis, Ben Cutting, Shadab Khan, Muhammed Nawaz, Sherfane Rutherford, Jimmy Neesham, Safyaan Sharif, Anshuman Rath, Richie Berrington, Ensan Nawaz, Kyle Phill, Davy Jacobs, Navmeet Dhalwal, Satsimranjit Dhindsa, Akash Gill, Shahid Ahmadzai.
Toronto Nationals: Brendon McCullum, Yuvraj Singh, Kieron Pollard, Trent Boult, Heinrich Klaasen, Manpreet Singh Gony, Chris Green, Sandeep Lamichhane, Calum MacLeod, Chirag Suri, Ghulman Shabbir, Jasdeep Singh, Jeremey Gordon, Ravinderpaul Singh, Salam Nazar, Mark Montfort, Rodgrigo Thomas.
Winnipeg Hawks: Chris Lynn, JP Duminy, Dwayne Bravo, Dwayne Smith, Umar Akmal, Rayad Emrit, Paul Vanmeekeren, Sompal Kami, Ramez Shahzad, Shaiman Anwar, Sunny Sohail, Hamza Tariq, Kaleem Ur Rehm, Umbair Ghani, Romeh Eranga, Varun Sehdv.
Montreal Tigers: George Bailey, Sunil Narine, Thisara Perera, Fawad Ahmed, Isuru Udana, Niroshan Dickwella, Keemo Paul, Muhammed Naveed, Kyle Coetzer, Matthew Ceoss, Nizakat Khan, Steven Taylor, Dilon Heyliger, Nikhil Dutta, Bupinder Singh, Arslam Khan, Yax Patel.
Brampton Wolves: Daren Sammy, Shakib Al Hasan, Colin Munroe, Shahid Afridi, Wahab Riaz, Lendl Simmons, Andre Fletcher, Babar Hayat, George Munsey, Rohan Mustufa, Zahoor Khan, Timil Patel, Nitish Kumar, Abraash Khan, Armaan Khan, Faisal Jamkhandi, Nawab Singh.
