Hong Kong T20 Blitz to feature top talent from Australia and India as teams release provisional squads
Associate players from Netherlands, United Arab Emirates and Nepal to join Michael Clarke and Hong Kong players in inaugural tournament
First-class players from Australia and India will showcase their talents at Mission Road this month as the four franchises on Friday announced their final squads for the DTC Mobile Hong Kong T20 Blitz.
We are really looking forward to this first iteration of what hopefully becomes a world-class event worthy of world-class facilities
With former Australia captain Michael Clarke confirming his participation, the Hong Kong Cricket Association received another boost with news that all gazebos for the Saturday had been sold.
Kowloon Cantons announced this week that they had signed Clarke to play alongside top Hong Kong players and Nepalese spinner Sandeep Lamichchane at the May 27-29 tournament.
Woodworm Island Warriors have secured the services of Australian first-class players Michael Hill and Will Sheridan, with Dutchman Michael Swart joining as their associate player.
Hung Hom JD Jaguars have gone for experienced Indian first-class players with Mumbai’s Vinit Indulkar and Doraiswamy Subramanian recruited alongside UAE’s Muhammad Naveed.
GII Lantau Galaxy Riders have delved into the talent-rich Delhi cricket scene and have picked Saurabh Passi, Neel Mani Jha, Harshit Verma, Narendra Chauhan, although only two of them will be allowed to play.
“We’re very pleased to receive the franchises’ provisional squads for the first-ever Blitz,” said HKCA chief executive Tim Cutler. “We have Indian, Nepali, Dutch and Emirates talent complementing the signing of Michael Clarke and the best of Hong Kong’s local talent on show.
“We have already sold out the gazebos for Saturday – a fantastic response. We look forward to full houses across both ticketed days. And some great weather.
“We are really looking forward to this first iteration of what hopefully becomes a world-class event worthy of world-class facilities.”
Watch an interview with Michael Hill
Hill played for Hobart Hurricanes and left-arm fast bowler Sheridan – who played in the 2010 Hong Kong Sixes – represented Melbourne Renegades in Australia’s Big Bash League, so they bring quality T20 pedigree to the Warriors line-up. Australia-born Swart also has solid experience playing for the Netherlands.
Given India’s depth of talent, the Mumbai and Delhi recruits are sure to boost their respective teams and fans can expect to see plenty of high-class cricket over the three days. Indulkar is a former Kolkata Knight Riders player in the Indian Premier League.
The first match for the tournament will be on Friday, May 27 at 3pm between the Hung Hom JD Jaguars and the GII Lantau Galaxy Riders.
After a single round-robin, the top two teams face off in the final on Sunday, May 29.
SQUADS
Woodworm Island Warriors
Tanwir Afzal, Nadeem Ahmed, Adil Mehmood, Raag Kapur, Jamie Atkinson, Ehsan Khan, Balal Muhammad, Ahsan Abbasi, Courtney Kruger, Waqas Barkat, Sunny Bhimsaria, Micky Swart (Netherlands), William Sheridan (Australia), Michael Hill (Australia), Mark Wright.
Kowloon Cantons
Ryan Campbell, Scott McKechnie, Simon Cook, Kabir Sodhi, Najeeb Amar, Babar Hayat, Ehsan Nawaz, Ashley Caddy, Akbar Khan, Michael Clarke (Australia), Simandeep Singh, Sandeep Lamichchane (Nepal), Tanveer Ahmed, Tim Cutler, Shahid Wasif.
Hung Hom JD Jaguars
Kinchit Shah, Nizakat Khan, Ankur Vasishta, Chris Carter, Daniyal Bukhari,
Doraiswamy Subramanian, Farooq Saeed, Jangzeb Khan, Majinder Singh, Mudassar Hussain, Muhammed Naveed (UAE), Ninad Shah, Uzair Khan, Vinit Indulkar (India), Vishal Sharma.
GII Lantau Galaxy Riders
Anshuman Rath, Waqas Khan, Li Kai-ming, Mohsin Khan, Moner Ahmed, Anas Khan, Amandeep Singh, Sikandar Zafar, Hiren Patel, Mohammad Awais, Niaz Ali, Saurabh Passi (India), Neel Mani Jha (India), Harshit Verma (India), Narendra Chauhan (India).
