Against all odds the USA Masters Over-50 team made it to the coveted last 4 stage of the ongoing World Cup in Cape Town, South Africa and will play England March 17th in one of the semi-finals game. USA Masters as an institution is just about 3 years old and is still in its infancy.
The Over 50’s team are making their debut at the world cup event and it has been a very impressive one to say the least. USA Masters squad is made up of expats from various parts of the world who have attained US Citizenship.
Given that literally none of the USA squad have played first class cricket barring Sajith Fernando and given that cricket facilities in the USA are still germinating the achievements of the team at the world cup have been Staggering.
The other 3 teams in the semis are England, South Africa and New Zealand each of them having a rich history of cricket and facilities which are “Neighbors envy and owners pride” For team USA to be in the same league as other 3 it just goes to show how well they planned, prepared and executed.
In the league phase, USA beat Australia the number one ranked team, beat New Zealand a firm team, beat neighboring Canada and Sri Lanka rather disdainfully. Our loses to West Indies and Zimbabwe were closely fought games.
During the league phase USA displayed a total team performance, with different players standing up to be counted at different stress points.
The USA squad is captained by Parak Anantha who led on all fronts so to say, he was outstanding with the bat, with the gloves and with his leadership. The team is coached by Arun Vittala a former USA national player and he is assisted by Raj Badadare, team physio is Nasru.
