USA vice-captain Aaron Jones has paid the price for prioritizing his club commitments above international duty as he has been left out of the tri-series World Cup League 2 (WCL-2) starting Friday. The selection committee has decided to persevere with the same squad that toured Namibia in September.

Jones Chooses CPL Over National Duty

Jones has been criticized for not accepting the tour of Namibia, as he has accepted his contract with St Lucia Kings in the Caribbean Premier League CPL. It has already created some tensions among members of the selection committee and USA Cricket, especially when Jones was given warnings for giving club cricket importance as he played as a local player hence, did not require NOC from the cricket board.

In stark contrast though, Andries Gous, who left Trinbago Knight Riders in early for the Namibia tour, is retained in the team. The selectors must have thought that the successive four ODIs won without a loss by the USA when Jones was away from the team would have seen him lose his place.

Though Jones is recalled to the T20I squad after his brilliant performance in the CPL final, his poor scores in the series against Nepal are an issue in his selection to the T20I team.

Rising Star: Sanjay Krishnamurthy Shines

The 21-year-old Sanjay Krishnamurthy, tore apart the Scotland bowling unit, blitzing his way to an unbeaten 167* for USA-A. Under the Texas sun, his fitness and skill were a testament to his consistency, when he was pressing for national team inclusion. His addition as the 16th man would not make much difference in case the squad had been announced; the stage was already set.

Upcoming Matches

The USA starts its three-nation series against Nepal on Friday in an attempt to carry their good work from the recent past, and we keep you posted.

USA Squad: Monank Patel (C), Smit Patel, Sai Teja Mukkamalla, Milind Kumar, Shayan Jahangir, Andries Gous, Harmeet Singh, Nosthush Kenjige, Saurabh Netravalkar, Juanoy Drysdale, Utkarsh Srivastava, Jasdeep Singh, Shadley Van Schalkwyk, Yasir Mohammad, Sushant Modani