The United States of America announced its 15-member squad for the forthcoming T20 World Cup earlier this month. Most of the roster boasts a buzzworthy presence of US players of Indian origin. Even the team’s Captain, Monank Patel, who will again take charge of leadership responsibilities this year alongside Vice-Captain Aaron Jones, shares his formative roots with Gujarat.
The 2024 cricketing action goes live in June as the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup is slated to kick off, with its opening match on June 1 pitting the USA against Canada in Texas. The games are scheduled to be co-hosted by the West Indies and the United States and will run their course on June 29, making it the first ICC World Cup tournament with matches opening in the US. Before the main games kick off in June, warm-up matches will take place from May 27 to June 1 across the USA and Trinidad and Tobago.
Full USA squad for T20 World Cup: Monank Patel (c & wk), Aaron Jones (vc), Andries Gous, Corey Anderson, Ali Khan, Harmeet Singh, Jessy Singh, Milind Kumar, Nisarg Patel, Nitish Kumar, Noshtush Kenjige, Saurabh Netravalkar, Shadley Van Schalkwyk, Steven Taylor and Shayan Jahangir. (Reserve players: Juanoy Drysdale, Gajanand Singh and Yasir Mohammad)
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All Indian-origin cricketers on the 2024 ICC T20 World Cup Squad for the United States
1. Monank Patel (Captain)
Monank Dilipbhai Patel is a 31-year-old wicketkeeper-batter for the US Cricket team. Born on May 1, 1993, in the Indian state of Gujarat, the now-US Captain has previously played for Gujarat at the Under-16 and Under-19 levels.
During a 2022 interaction, he told PTI that Cricket was his “full-time career.” Among the several players in the team who are attached to the Indian diaspora roots, Patel eventually became one among the grand Gujarati population in the US in 2016, when he shifted to New Jersey permanently. He received his green card years before that, in 2010.
Having debuted in 2018, Patel initially painted a cumbersome picture of training in the USA. Suggesting the grave difficulties involved in hiring a personal coach, the Indian-born player iterated that he trained alone at his academy. On recording these practice sessions, he ultimately enlisted the support of the national team coach and his father, an ex-cricketer, to analyse his game.
The 2024 streak won’t be the first challenge that requires him to step up as the squad’s Captain. He first took the reins as the new Captain for the International format in 2021 for the T20 World Cup Americas Qualifier in Antigua, held from November 7-14, 2021. Patel split his captaincy role with Vice-Captain Aaron Jones. The same leadership hierarchy has been retained for this year’s Team USA Squad.
Monank Patel’s career stats (as of May 19, 2024 – according to ESPN Cricinfo): 47 ODIs + 23 International T20s + 67 List As + 23 T20s
2. Harmeet Singh
The 31-year-old Bowling Allrounder’s classic delivery style is the Slow Left arm Orthodox. Born on September 7, 1992, in Mumbai, he’s also seen helming the bat on the left hand.
Prior to his US debut as a cricketer in 2021 with Seattle Thunderbolts in the Minor League Cricket, he also made significant contributions to the national Indian team (2012 U-19 World Cup), IPL’s Rajasthan Royals in 2013 and Tripura (state cricket).
Former Indian batting star Dilip Sardesai, who was often regarded as the best bet against spin, likened Singh’s talents to the spin legend Bishen Bedi when he first witnessed him in action.
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Harmeet Singh’s career stats (as of May 19, 2024): 4 International T20s + 43 FCs + 19 List As + 11 T20s
3. Jessy Singh
Jasdeep ‘Jessy’ Singh often lights up the field for the USA as the life of the heart-winning celebrations. Born in the US, on February 10, 1993, the 31-year-old bowler strikes out with the right arm medium style. His family traces its Indian connections back to Punjab and even moved back to the Indian state when Jessy was 3.
Ultimately, returning to New Jersey at 13, Singh went on to master his medium-pace talent at the senior level. After a long bout with New Jersey league cricket and other private T20 competitions around the US, he made his US squad debut in 2015 at the ICC Americas Division One TwentyT20 tournament in Indianapolis.
According to ESPN, Jessy is also affiliated with the MI New York, Guyana Amazon Warriors, and Toronto Nationals cricket teams. He also made stellar contributions to the Kalutara Physical Culture Club with his debut in Sri Lanka.
Jessy Singh’s career stats: 24 ODIs+ 7 International T20s + 5 FCs + 37 List As + 10 T20s
4. Milind Kumar
The Delhi-born 33-year-old allrounder dabbles with right-hand batting and occasionally swings the right-arm offbreak. Kumar was born on February 15, 1991, and made his US cricket debut in 2021 with The Philadelphians in the Minor Cricket League.
Formerly attached to the IPL’s Delhi Daredevils (Delhi Capitals) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru teams, he made waves during the 2018-19 Ranji Trophy, reigning as the top scorer with 1331 runs. Having played seven seasons for Delhi, he stepped into the cricket action for the Indian domestic teams—Sikkim and Tripura—until he flew off to the US for better opportunities.
According to ESPN, the right-hand batter is also associated with California Knights, Texas Super Kings and Urbanrisers Hyderabad.
Milind Kumar’s career stats: 3 International T20s + 46 FCs + 65 List As + 61 T20s
5. Nisarg Patel
As a left-arm orthodox batting Allrounder, Patel harnesses the ability to extraordinarily turn the ball like most players can’t. Nisarg Ketankumar Patel occasionally drops the slow left-arm orthodox while handling the bat in his right hand.
Born in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, on April 20, 1988, the 36-year-old spent seven years as a semi-pro in England after his significant time on the US U-19 team. His impactful presence is felt across the Major League Cricket matches while sporting the Seattle Orcas jersey.
Nisarg Patel’s career stats: 41 ODIs + 20 International T20s + 50 List As + 20 T20s
6. Noshtush Kenjige
Affectionately known as Nosthush or Nosh, Nosthusha Pradeep Kenjige was born in Atlanta on March 2, 1991. The 33-year-old bowler effectively slips out his signature slow left-arm orthodox.
With a smooth control of flight and his electrifying ways of turning the ball, Kenjige shaped his formative years in Bengaluru, India. There, he played for the District, University and Zonal teams.
Now settled in Brooklyn, the big hub of US cricket, he’s also linked to the MI New York and MI Emirates cricket teams.
Nosthush Kenjige’s career stats: 40 ODIs + 4 International T20s + 61 List As + 4 T20s
7. Saurabh Netravalkar
The Mumbai-born left-arm pacer (born October 16, 1991) recently made headlines when a US techie realised that one of his colleagues (Netravalkar) was, in fact, a leading presence in the US squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup. Having formerly represented India alongside KL Rahul in the 2010 U-19 Cricket World Cup, Netravalkar is seemingly juggling his professional time.
Software engineer Chirag recently had a startling epiphany that his fellow 32-year-old colleague at Oracle was a prominent cricketer. He broke the surprising revelation on X/Twitter and wrote, “I just found out in my company there is a guy who played the Under-19 Cricket World Cup for India back in 2010 and now lives in the US, works in Oracle, and is going to be playing T20 WC next month for the USA.”
Netravalkar initially joined the inaugural action of the Major League Cricket for the Washington Freedom. Making his first-class debut for Mumbai in India in 2013, he ultimately took off for the USA, where he completed his Master’s degree in Computer Science from Cornell University.
Eventually, putting his cricket shoes back on, he relaunched his US sports dream in 2019. Surprisingly, his two worlds have come clashing as Netravalkar’s company, Oracle, is also the official title sponsor of Major League Cricket 2024 in the US.
Saurabh Netravalkar’s career stats: 48 ODIs + 24 International T20s + 1 FC + 80 List As + 24 T20s