Canada’s 15 member squad, which will be captained by Astan Deosammy, managed by Anil Khanna with former Canadian national Senior Team Captain Farouk Kirmani as its Head Coach, departed for South Africa on Friday January 3. The Canadians left to join fifteen other competing country teams that will be participating in the South Africa hosted International Cricket Council’s (ICC) 2020 U19 World Cup, which will be played from January 17- February 9.

The 2020 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup will be the Tournament’s thirteenth edition and South Africa’s second occasion as Tournament hosts. South Africa had hosted the Tournament’s second edition which was held in 1998, ten years after the 1988 Inaugural Tournament. Canada’s 2020 participation will be its sixth appearance as a team country. Team Canada had participated in the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup’s 2002, 2004, 2010, 2014, 2016 and 2018 Tournaments. Canadian players had also been members of the ICC Associates XI Squads that had participated in the 1988 Inaugural Tournament and again in 2000.

The sixteen participating teams at the ICC 2020 Under-19 World Cup will be split into four groups for the Tournament’s Preliminary Rounds. The top two teams from each group will advance to the Super League, with the bottom two from each group progressing to the Plate League. Canada will play its Preliminary Round Matches in the Tournament’s Group D. The Canadians will face the United Arab Emirates on January 18, hosts South Africa on January 22 and Afghanistan on Januray 24.

Canada’s 15 member ICC 2020 Under-19 World Cup playing squad consists of Astan Deosammy (Captain), Akhil Kumar, Arshdeep Dhaliwal, Ayush Verma, Benjamin Calitz, Eshan Sensarma, Gurjot Gosal, Mihir Patel, Muhammad Kamal, Nicholas Manohar, Randhir Sandhu, Raqib Shamsudeen, Rishiv Joshi, Udaybir Walia and Harmandeep Singh Bedi. Along with its Manager Anil Khanna and Head Coach Farouk Kirmani, the Squad will also include Assistant Coach Kulbir Jaswal, Analyst Shah Zafar and Physio Tejash Patel.