With the Covid outbreak taking place in the US National Team, 3 players have been ruled out. Malhotra, Jones, and Gore will all not be taking part in the T20 series. After undergoing isolation, Malhotra and Jones will join the ODI squad for the final 3 games of the historic tour against Ireland.
4 players have been named as replacements for those in isolation. Ritwik Behera, Yasir Mohammed, Ali Sheikh, and Ryan Scott have been added to the T20 team. In the ODI team, Ritwik Behera is the only new addition out of the players who were previously not in either the ODI or the T20 side.
Behera, Mohammed, and Sheikh are all U19 players who have done well in domestic tournaments to get to this point. This is a great opportunity for them in the absence of some big names.
Rahul Jariwala and Vatsal Vaghela were 2 under 19 players who after some great performances in the past year made their way into the US National Team. They remain in the side after being selected originally before the entire Covid fiasco.
𝐑𝐢𝐭𝐰𝐢𝐤 𝐁𝐞𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐚 Ritwik comes from the DC Area and has been a consistent performer in local tournaments. Being a batting all rounder, Ritwik can hit the ball a long way and also is a handy spin bowler.
In the U19 Camp 2021, a domestic ODI tournament, Behera scored 163 runs at an average of 32.60. With the ball, he picked up 5 wickets at an economy of just under 3.21.
In the Mens Under 19 National Championship, Behera scored 92 runs at an impressive average of 46. With the ball, he took 7 wickets in 4 games with an economy of just 4.77.
𝐀𝐥𝐢 𝐒𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐤𝐡 Sheikh is also a spin bowling all rounder. In 2019, at the age of just 16, he played for the US Under 19 team.
In MiLC 2021, Sheikh played for the Irving Mustangs and was an important part of their side with both bat an ball. Coming in at number 5, he played a few crucial innings. Though his side ended up losing the game, his best knock came against the Houston Hurricanes where he hit 59 from just 26 deliveries.
Captaining his side in the U19 Camp, Sheikh took 6 wickets at an economy of just 3.08. In the ICC Americas U19 Qualifier, Sheikh bowled at a very impressive economy of 1.73.
In the Mens U19 Championship, he took 7 wickets in 4 games at an economy of 2.51. With the bat, in the same tournament, he scored 155 runs at an average of 51.67. In the 4 games, he was in great form as he hit 2 fifties.
𝐘𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐫 𝐌𝐨𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐝 Mohammed is another young spin bowling all rounder. Though his main role is that of a bowler, Mohammed can at times be handy with the bat. With the ball, he can be a little expensive at times, but he does get wickets. Mohammed has the ability to change games with the ball in just a few overs.
In both the Under 19 Camp and the US Mens National Championship, he picked up 6 wickets each and was an integral part of the side.
𝐑𝐚𝐡𝐮𝐥 𝐉𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐚 A WK Batsmen, Jariwala is a young talent who has had a great year. In MiLC, he represented the Silicon Valley Strikers, the side which went on to win the entire tournament. Being the 3rd highest run scorer for his team, Jariwala was a key part of the side as he opened the batting with Unmukt Chand.
Scoring 251 runs, Jariwala was the highest run scorer in the U19 Mens National Championship. He hit 2 centuries in 4 games and averaged 62.75 in the tournament.
𝐕𝐚𝐭𝐬𝐚𝐥 𝐕𝐚𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐚 Vaghela is a young spinner who has spun webs around many different teams. In MiLC, he played for the Golden State Grizzlies and picked up 29 wickets, the most in the Pacific Conference. He took all these wickets at an economy of just 5.5.
In the ICC U19 Americas Qualifiers, Vaghela opened the batting for the US throughout the tournament. This was back in 2019. Since, he’s focused on his bowling and now he bats lower down the order.
In the Mens National Championship, Vaghela picked up 7 wickets in 4 games at an economy of 4.07. He also did pretty well with the bat as he scored 72 runs in the tournament.
