The USA has dropped Aaron Jones from their ODI squad for the upcoming World Cup League 2 (WCL-2) tri-series starting on Friday. Jones was left out after choosing to play for the CPL franchise St. Lucia Kings, which led to him missing the USA’s September tour of Namibia. The selection committee named the same squad that recently toured Namibia for WCL-2. It’s believed Jones’ decision to play in the CPL, despite “warnings” from USA Cricket, created tension within the selection panel and higher authorities. Since Jones played as a local in the CPL, he didn’t need an NOC from USA Cricket.
On the other hand, Andries Gous, who limited his time with the Trinbago Knight Riders to join the Namibia tour, has retained his spot in the team. Without Jones, the USA went unbeaten in four ODI matches in Namibia, which boosted the selectors’ confidence to drop him. Though Jones was recalled for the T20I series after his strong performance in the CPL final, his place in the T20I squad is now at risk due to a string of low scores in the recent T20I series against Nepal. Jones has been a key figure in the USA’s white-ball squads since his debut in 2018.
Meanwhile, young star Sanjay Krishnamurthy had a mixed day. The 21-year-old, who has been impressive throughout the American cricket summer with standout performances in both the Major and Minor League, scored an unbeaten 167* for USA-A against the touring Scotland team. Battling through the extreme heat in Dallas, Krishnamurthy showed his fitness and composure, leading his team in a tough chase of 341 against a strong bowling attack, making a strong case for his return to the national team.
Interestingly, the USA squad was announced while the USA-A team was still chasing, and some believe it might have been better to finalize the squad after the match, especially given Krishnamurthy’s brilliant performance. Nonetheless, including him as the 16th man could be a wise move. USA will face Nepal in their first match of the tri-series on Friday.
USA Squad: Monank Patel (captain), Smit Patel, Sai Teja Mukkamalla, Milind Kumar, Shayan Jahangir, Andries Gous, Harmeet Singh, Nosthush Kenjige, Saurabh Netravalkar, Juanoy Drysdale, Utkarsh Srivastava, Jasdeep Singh, Shadley Van Schalkwyk, Yasir Mohammad, Sushant Modani.
