Gajanand Singh notable omission from USA World T20 squad

Guyanese batsman Gajanand Singh has not been included in the final 15-man USA squad for the upcoming World T20 in the Caribbean and USA. Singh, 36, was instead named as one of three reserves for the June 1-29 tournament.

It was widely felt that the left-handed batsman would find a spot in the squad, given he has been a regular starter for the USA side during the last three years and a crucial member of the middle-order.

The selectors however, opted for 33-year-old Indian national Milind Kumar, who made his T20 debut for USA in the recent series against Canada, scoring 4* and 16.

Singh, the former Guyana Amazon Warriors player, who has two half-centuries in nine T20 International innings and a strike rate of 125, had scores of one and nought in the Canada series.

However, the Los Angeles Knight Riders ‘leftie’ has impacted the ODI game for USA, averaging 36.51 from 32 games, with a solitary century and six fifties.

That memorable hundred came against West Indies in the 50-over World Cup qualifier in Zimbabwe in June 2023.

“It would be an honour to play in a senior World Cup,” Singh told News Room in an interview in January as he looked forward to adding to his Youth World Cup appearance for West Indies.

All is not lost for Singh though, as teams are allowed to make changes to their squad until May 25, after which any alteration will require approval from ICC’s Event Technical Committee.

USA will play the inaugural game of the World Cup, against Canada in Dallas on June 1.

SQUAD: Monank Patel (capt), Aaron Jones (vice-capt), Andries Gous, Corey Anderson, Ali Khan, Harmeet Singh, Jessy Singh, Milind Kumar, Nisarg Patel, Nitish Kumar, Nosthush Kenjige, Saurabh Netravalkar, Shadley Van Schalkwyk, Steven Taylor, Shayan Jahangir

RESERVES: Gajanand Singh, Juanoy Drysdale, Yasir Mohammad