By Ravendra Madholall in Toronto, Canada
Former Canadian captain Sunil Dhaniram has great expectations of Canada emerging as the top team in the upcoming International Cricket Council (ICC) Americas Division One T20 Tournament to be played at the Indianapolis Sports Park, in Indiana, USA.
Former Canadian skipper Sunil Dhaniram lashes out at Cricket Canada administration.
Canada will be vying for a spot at the ICC T20 Qualifier which is slated for this July in co-host countries Ireland and Scotland. If qualified, they would make their debut at the 2016 World Cup mega event in India from next March to April.
“It is obviously a long road but I am confident they would get to the top; the team is young and talented undoubtedly, and these guys can make Canada proud to be part of the action next year,” the 46-year-old versatile all-rounder declared.
The Canadian side will open their campaign against Suriname on May 3 in the first of two scheduled matches while they will collide with Bermuda the following day and then arch-rivals United States of America also, in a two-round fixture each.
“They have got six matches on this trip and I think they have the ability to bring out good results and prove me wrong that they can get back at the top; they are playing in this competition because they lost the ODI status which is very disappointing,” expressed the Guyanese native.
Canada was relegated to the third division after failing to qualify at the recently concluded ICC 50-Overs World Cup Tournament which was played in Australia and New Zealand; and consequently they have lost the status and financial stipends as well from the world governing body.
Dhaniram is not blaming the players thoroughly for such an embarrassment, but has thrown it on Cricket Canada’s administration.
“Over the years during my time of representing Canada, they have lacked skillful leadership and organization, and because it was so poor, our players are suffering now; too much politics and selfishness in Canada’s cricket at the moment. The executives are just for themselves and not thinking about the future cricketers,” the left-handed batsman lamented.
Despite the abundance of talent in the line-up for this crucial assignment and with some other capable players pulling out owing to work commitments, Dhaniram is of the firm opinion that the side will have to bring out their best and forget about any level of lethargic coaching and administrative management.
“We need proper coaches as well to be successful on these important cricket tournaments. Yes, we have the talent but nurturing them is a big headache for these people in authority. I know money sometime is the problem but you need qualified and inspirational coaches to have on your team,” related Dhaniram, who is a tidy left-arm orthodox spinner.
Veteran all-rounder Rizwan Cheema will be at the helm again taking over the captaincy from Jimmy Hansra, who is absent owing to personal reasons, while talented and young opener Hiral Patel is another notable exclusion which Dhaniram feels is very inexplicable. “I don’t why this kid is not in the team again; he missed out on two big occasions, and I don’t know the reason for his continued omission. I think he is one of the brightest talents in Canada and should be in the team at all times,” Dhaniram, who represented his adopted country Canada in 19 First-class matches and 68 One-Day Internationals, divulged.
Meanwhile, having conversed with many past Canadian cricketers who also shared similar sentiments of Dhaniram, that poor administration coupled with the lack of funding is responsible for the steady decline of Canadian cricket. It is generally believed that it will need a herculean effort to see a re-elevation of the Canadian senior team. The players have also mentioned that structure is of the utmost importance and Cricket Canada should implement strategies to make these things happen, by maximizing on available technologies and other useful methods, to help the game’s popularity and progress.
The Cricket Canada squad is: Rizwan Cheema (Capt.), Hamza Tariq (wk/vice-capt.), Khurram Chohan, Navneet Dhaliwal, Satsimranjit Dhindsa, Nikhil Dutta, Ruvindu Gunasekera, Jimmy Hansra, Nitish Kumar, Farhan Malik, Cecil Pervez, Junaid Siddiqui, Srimantha Wijeratne, and Saad Bin Zafar.