India's Under-19 World Cup winning captain Unmukt Chand has reacted with a cryptic post after being overlooked for USA's upcoming five-match T20I series against Canada. The player, who led India to 2012 Under-19 World Cup title, shifted his base to USA in 2021 -- a move that he seemingly took due to the lack of cricketing opportunities in India. Chand was set to qualify for USA national cricket team this month, however, his snub for the upcoming Canada T20I series has dented his hopes of representing USA in the T20 World Cup 2024.
USA's T20I series vs Canada will kick off on April 7 while the last match will be played on April 13. After this, USA will be taking on Bangladesh in a three-match T20I series, which will be followed by T20 World Cup.
"Irony of life- I keep hearing people cribbing about unfair systems in place and the need for healthy changes but when the same people come to power, they practice the same unjust means too. It's high time we bring the change within ourselves and stand firm for what's right," wrote Chand on X after USA announced their 15-man squad for Canada T20Is.
Chand was left out of the USA squad despite scoring 1500 runs in 45 Major League Cricket (MLC) games. He is the second all-time leading run-scorer in the tournament's history.
Meanwhile, Monank Patel will lead USA against Canada, with the first game in Houston, Texas on April 7.
Corey Anderson, a former New Zealand all-rounder, is also set to mark his return to international cricket after six years.
The 33-year-old played 13 Tests, 49 ODIs and 31 T20Is for New Zealand from 2012 to 2018 and once held the record for the fastest hundred in ODIs.
USA Squad for Canada T20I series
Monank Patel (Captain), Aaron Jones (Vice-Captain), Andries Gous, Corey Anderson, Gajanand Singh, Harmeet Singh, Jessy Singh, Milind Kumar, Nisarg Patel, Nitish Kumar, Noshtush Kenjige, Saurabh Netravalkar, Shadley Van Schalkwyk, Steven Taylor, Usman Rafiq
Reserves: Shayan Jahangir, Juanoy Drysdale, Saiteja Mukkamalla