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By Peter Della Penna
USA’s U-15 squad will attempt to bring some much needed positive
on-field results for the country beginning on Sunday as they take on
Bermuda in the first match of the 2011 ICC Americas U-15 Northern
Division Tournament at Assiniboine Park in Winnipeg, Manitoba. USA
finished second at the 2009 event held in Brooklyn, N.Y. Defending
champions and host side Canada begin the event with a day off before
squaring off against USA on Monday.
USA’s squad is captained by Dave Parikh, a veteran of the North West
Region U-15 team for several years. Parikh captained this year’s North
West U-15 squad to the region’s fourth straight national championship
and is one of six players from that squad who will be playing for USA in
Canada.
He’ll be joined by Vibhav Altekar, who scored a double-hundred in
Connecticut and was named Tournament MVP at the 2011 USACA U-15 National
Tournament, along with pace bowler Rutjiv Bhise, who was the hero in
the final against New York, Mihir Athavale, Neil Tagare, and Anirudha
Srinivas.
Two players from North East will be on the team, the first junior
players representing America from the region since Andy Mohammed was
selected to play for the USA U-19 squad after playing for the North East
U-19 team in the 2009 USACA U-19 National Tournament. Karanjit Singh
and Jason Gobin formed a successful opening combination in Connecticut
with Singh scoring one century and Gobin notching a pair of
half-centuries in July to earn spots in USA’s U-15 squad for this
tournament.
Similarly from the Central East, their opening tandem of Rohit
Mogalayapalli and Gordon Makin strengthen the batting depth. Both
players impressed in the 2010 USACA U-15 National Tournament in New
Jersey and followed it up this year with more solid displays as
Mogalayapalli registered a century while Makin had two 50s and will most
likely be slotted into the wicketkeeper role for USA’s U-15 team.
Three players made it from the national runner-up New York team.
Randall Wilson, who was the top run getter in Connecticut with two
centuries and a 50 will most likely play a pivotal role in the middle
order for USA and could open the bowling as well. Brandon Dat and Ryan
Persaud were also selected from New York while Vivek Narayan made it
from the Atlantic Region.
The team is being coached by former West Indies international Milton
Pydanna, who had an 18-year first class career for Guyana and now lives
in New York. North West regional representative Ajay Athavale is the
Team Manager while Akhtar Masood Syed is the Team Physio.
DreamCricket.com will attempt to provide live coverage for every match at the tournament dependent upon internet availability.
Tournament Schedule
August 21 – USA vs. Bermuda
August 22 – USA vs. Canada
August 23 – Canada vs. Bermuda
August 24 – USA vs. Bermuda
August 25 – USA vs. Canada
August 26 – Canada vs. Bermuda
USA squad: Dave Parikh (captain, North West), Vibhav
Altekar (North West), Mihir Athavale (North West), Rutvij Bhise (North
West), Brandon Dat (New York), Jason Gobin (North East), Gordon Makin
(Central East), Rohit Mogalayapalli (Central East), Vivek Narayan
(Atlantic), Ryan Persaud (New York), Karanjit Singh (North East),
Anirudha Srinivas (North West), Neil Tagare (North West), Randall Wilson
(New York).
Head Coach – Milton Pydanna
Manager – Ajay Athavale
Physio – Akhtar Masood Syed