TORONTO, Canada, CMC – Canada coach Pubudoo Dassanayake is confident his side can spring an upset in this year’s edition of the Caribbean Twenty20 Championship which bowls off in Antigua next Monday.
The Sri Lankan said though his side was relatively inexperienced, they were optimistic of upsetting some of the more seasoned teams in the January 10-23 tournament.
Canada will open their quest for supremacy against English County Hampshire and will also meet former T20 champions Trinidad and Tobago, Leeward Islands, and last year’s runners-up Barbados in Group B.
“I think we have a very good team that can win the competition,” said Dassanayake, who played 11 Tests and 16 One-Day Internationals.
“Yes we have a young side but everyone is very talented and they are anxious to play positive cricket in the Caribbean.
“We had an excellent run in India [last November] with the World Cup preparation and we used it for the Caribbean tournament as well.”
Canada also competed in the West Indies Cricket Board tournament last year, losing two of their three preliminary round games by nine-wicket margins with the other one being washed out.
Despite that showing, however, Dassanayake remained confident that his talented bunch of excellent cricketers could make a big impression on this occasion. “The players showed a lot of determination and enthusiasm. They learnt a lot and I think we will build on that significantly in the Twenty20 tournament,” he said.
The side will be led by inspirational wicketkeeper/ batsman Ashish Bagai, who is making a comeback from injury which forced him to miss the first edition of the tournament last July.
Dassanayake said the batting will revolve around Bagai, hard-hitters Rizwan Cheema, Hiral Patel and the Jamaica-born Tyson Gordon.
The bowling attack will hinge on the experienced pacer Henry Osinde and seamer Harvir Baidwan.
The CT20 will move to Barbados from January 18 for the finale.