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By Peter Della Penna

The following is a preview for each of the squads headed to the USACA Western Conference Tournament that will take place from September 17-19 in Los Angeles, Calif.

Central East – The Cinderella champions from 2009 will need to make a similar miracle run to repeat as Western Conference champs in 2010. Gone are captain Usman Shuja and leading run-scorer Amit Kumar. However, last year’s leading wicket-taker in the tournament, Akhil Pathan, is back again to lead the bowling attack.

Wicketkeeper Ashhar Mehdi will carry a lot of responsibility with the bat while the team is once again looking to youth to make major contributions as Fahad Babar and Abhijit Joshi will also have key roles to play at the top of the batting order.

Central East squad – Shahid Malik (captain), Asif Mehmood (vice-captain), Raheel Akhtar, Fahad Babar, Mansab Butt, Pavan Chakravarthy, Maqsood Husain, Abhijit Joshi, Shehbaz Khan, Vamsi Kotha, Tanveer Malik, Ashhar Mehdi, Sameer Munot, Akhil Pathan, Aditya Sharma.

Central West – The team is loaded with talent and is almost certain to turn around last year’s fortunes after a disastrous 0-3 performance in Minneapolis, which included a controversial forfeit in their game against the champion Central East team. While Sushil Nadkarni will be unavailable due to work commitments, there are a few additions to make the team formidable.

Usman Shuja comes back to the Central West after spending a few years away with Central East and Atlantic. A new face will open the batting in Abbas Jafri. The teenager had the highest score at the U-19 Western Conference in Los Angeles last month, 139 vs. South West, and he’ll look to replicate that form playing on the same grounds against senior competition.

“I think he has a very bright future for the U.S.,” said captain Orlando Baker about Jafri. “He’s one that we’re going to have our eyes on. He’s a good kid, he’s willing to learn and he’s a hard worker so I’m just really looking forward to seeing him this week.”

Ryan Corns will look to play a bigger role this year after featuring in only one match in the same tournament last year. Rahul Kukreti is also back in the squad after the one-year suspension for his role in last year’s forfeited match was overturned by USACA, according to Central West manager Ahmed Jeddy.

Central West squad – Orlando Baker (captain), Majid Rizvi (vice-captain), Ryan Corns, Jignesh Desai, Charan Gowda, Vivek Inampudi, Abbas Jafri, Rahul Kukreti, Jermaine Lavine, Amir Nanji, Rohit Ramkumar, Usman Shuja, Supratim Srinivasan, Radhakrishna Yelamanchilli.

North West – Last year’s third place team has opted to go for experience over youth. Not a single one of the four players from the region who went to the U-19 World Cup in New Zealand were included in this year’s senior squad. Saqib Saleem was selected, but has since been replaced after he became unavailable due to school commitments.

One new face in the squad whose debut is eagerly anticipated is James Crosthwaite, the younger brother of former Victoria wicket-keeper Adam Crosthwaite. The bowling attack is the team’s biggest strength and is led by vice-captain Saurabh Verma and Bilal Khan, both of whom represented USA in 2010. They’ll get support from Samarth Shah and Imran Khan, who took incredible figures of 9 for 5 at the North West Region inter-league tournament earlier this year.

North West squad – Nauman Mustafa (captain), Saurabh Verma (vice-captain), Vijay Beniwal, Rishi Bharadwaj, James Crosthwaite, Shantanu Divekar, Ashwin Karuhatty, Bilal Khan, Imran Khan, Samarth Shah, Ashok Singh, Sunny Singh, Srikanth Sundaragopalan, Arjun Thyagarajan.

South West – The team that finished second in Minneapolis last year stands to be the tournament favorite this year on their home turf. Although the squad is loaded with experience, they also have an eye towards youth.

New to the squad this year are two former Ranji Trophy players from Gujarat, Amit Sood and Timil Patel. Salman Ahmad has also been picked for the South West senior squad for the first time. He recently scored a century in the U-19 Western Conference Tournament at Woodley.

Ahmad and Hammad Shahid will both look to gain more positive experience against senior members before making a push for a second consecutive U-19 World Cup appearance for USA. Meanwhile, several other players including Ravi Timbawala will be looking to reestablish their credentials in the minds of USA selectors in an attempt to join South West vice-captain Aditya Thyagarajan in the USA squad for ICC WCL Division 3 in Hong Kong.

“I think our squad is really balanced,” said Thyagarajan. “I think all four departments – fielding, batting, spin bowling, fast bowling – we have a lot of depth. We’re accustomed to playing at the Woodley fields and we’ll be definitely focused on coming back as champions.”

South West squad – Mehul Dave (captain), Aditya Thyagarajan (vice-captain), Salman Ahmad, Tarun Bhoomireddy, Elmore Hutchinson, Ritesh Kadu, Theo Mavrokefalos, Timil Patel, David Pieters, Abhemanyu Rajp, Ali Shafi, Hammad Shahid, Amit Sood, Ravi Timbawala.

Tournament Schedule

Friday, September 17 at 10 AM
Central East vs. Central West at Marder Field
North West vs. South West at Wong Field

Saturday, September 18 at 10 AM
Central East vs. North West at Marder Field
Central West vs. South West at Wong Field

Sunday, September 19 at 9 AM
Central East vs. South West at Marder Field
Central West vs. North West at Wong Field