Two Former Tripura Players In US Team For T20 WC, One To Play For Kenya
As many as two cricketers who have played for the Tripura Ranji team in domestic cricket are now set to play the T20 World Cup as a part of United States international cricket teams while one will play for the Kenya national team.
Two players Milind Kumar and Harmeet Singh, who represented the Tripura Ranji team, have been selected in the USA's squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup 2024 and Joint Secretary of Tripura Cricket Association Jayanta Dey opened up on the players' performances for the state in the domestic cricket and their rise in the international circuit. As many as two cricketers who have played for the Tripura Ranji team in domestic cricket are now set to play the T20 World Cup as a part of United States international cricket teams while one will play for the Kenya national team.
Jayanta Dey told ANI that all three played for the Tripura Ranji team in different seasons. According to Dey, Milind Kumar and Harmeet Singh are going to play for the USA while Tanmay Mishra is in the Kenya squad.
Kumar scored 1331 runs in the 2018-19 Ranji Trophy season and then migrated to the USA in search of better opportunities.
Both Kumar and Singh had shifted to the USA permanently while Tanmay Mishra has dual citizenship of Kenya and India. As a result, both players Kumar and Singh are eligible to be selected for the USA's T20I team for the T20 World Cup, which begins on June 2 in the USA and the West Indies. The US will compete against India on June 12.
Harmeet played a crucial role in India's 2012 Australian Under-19 World Cup winning squad. Unmukt Chand, the captain of Harmeet's team, who has also relocated to the US to play in the Major Cricket League, was unexpectedly left out of the roster, while Corey Anderson, a former all-rounder from New Zealand, was chosen.
"Harmeet Singh and Milind Kumar who are now selected in the international side of the USA played for the Tripura Ranji team played for Tripura in different seasons. Harmeet Singh Played for Tripura for two successive seasons starting from 2018-19. Milind Kumar on the other hand played for the Tripura team in 2019-20 and 2020-21. They have shifted to the USA and are now repressing the USA in international cricket. All of them are part of the T20 World Cup team declared by the cricket boards of the respective countries. Harmeet Singh was also part of the Indian under 19 team," Jayanta Dey told ANI.
Dey said that Mishra got the opportunity to play for both countries because his father is Indian and his mother is from Kenya. He also added that the player featured for the Tripura Ranji team in 2019-20.
"Mishra's father is Indian but his mother is from Kenya which is why he got the opportunity to play for both the countries. He debuted in international cricket from Kenya in the year 2006. He played for the Tripura Ranji team in 2019-20. He played in the local league from Sanhati Club and scored more than 1,000 runs in that season. He was then picked up for the Ranji team," Dey told ANI.
Tripura Cricket Association has extended best wishes to the players who got a big break.
The ninth edition of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup, which will be a 20-team event, will take place in the USA and West Indies from June 1 to 29.
United States: Monank Patel (c), Aaron Jones, Andries Gous, Corey Anderson, Ali Khan, Harmeet Singh, Jessy Singh, Milind Kumar, Nisarg Patel, Nitish Kumar, Noshtush Kenjige, Saurabh Nethralvakar, Shadley Van Schalkwyk, Steven Taylor and Shayan Jahangir.
Reserve Players: Gajanand Singh, Juanoy Drysdale, Yasir Mohammad.
USA