On Friday, July 4, the Super60 USA tournament held a draft ahead of the inaugural season set to commence on August 5. The league will feature some big veterans of the game mixed with some local talents to drive the growth of cricket in the United States of America (USA).
The Super60 USA tournament is a T10 tournament that is focused on driving interest in cricket among the fans with its fast-paced action featuring some of the greats of the game, like Harbhajan Singh, Martin Guptill, Shaun Marsh, Aaron Finch, etc.
Ahead of the inaugural season starting on 5 August, the tournament held a players draft on Friday to allow the teams to complete their roster ahead of the big tournament.
Super60 USA Full Draft Breakdown
All six teams were allowed to sign up to eight players as part of their pre-signings. The Rebel Warriors had already signed the likes of Saurabh Tiwary, Mitchell Johnson, Thisara Perera, and Oshane Thomas as their pre-signings ahead of the draft, mixing great power-hitting and pace bowling.
In the draft, they brought in the likes of Martin Guptill and Lendl Simmonds to bolster their batting. Both batters are known for their aggressive batting. They also drafted Chaturanga de Silva and Jonathan Carter.
The Chicago Players team has a strong squad in place ahead of the new season. They had already picked Indian star batter Suresh Raina as the icon player, with the likes of Jacques Kallis, Shehan Jayasuriya, and Manpreet Gony as the pre-signings.
They also drafted Wayne Parnell and former India international pacer Varun Aaron to boost the bowling attack. Devendra Bishoo, Siddharth Trivedi, and Williams Perkins were also drafted into the squad.
Meanwhile, the Detroit Falcons have pre-signed Bangladeshi all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan as the icon player. They also pre-signed the likes of Cameron Delport, Rishi Dhawan, Nasir Hussain, and Sharad Lumba.
In the draft, they included a lot of Bangladeshi players like Mossaddek Hossain, Enamul Haque Junior, Ariful Haque, Kamrul Islam Rabbi, and Rony Talukdar. The team picked a total of nine Bangladeshi players.
The LA Strikers, on the other hand, signed former Australia T20 World Cup-winning captain Aaron Finch as the icon player. The other big names in the squad, including Isuru Udana, Ben Dunk, Chadwick Walton, Anureet Singh, Ashley Nurse, Jesel Karia, and Chirag Gandhi, were pre-signed by the franchise.
They then drafted the all-rounder Gurkeerat Mann, wicketkeeper-batter Naman Ojha, veteran pacer Parvinder Awana, and Jaskaran Malhotra.
Indian veteran spin bowler Harbhajan Singh, meanwhile, was roped in as the icon player by the Morrisville Fighters. They also pre-signed the likes of Shaun Marsh, Munaf Patel, Angelo Perera, and Bipul Sharma.
In the draft, they went for hard-hitting Kiwi all-rounder Colin de Grandhomme, Sheldon Cottrell, Jerome Taylor, Faiz Fazal, Suboth Bhati, Rahul Yadav, etc.
The Washington Tigers also have assembled a great squad for the Super60 USA tournament. They had already pre-signed the likes of Parthiv Patel, Chris Lynn, Ravi Bopara, Andrew Tye, Rohan Mustafa, Abhimanyu Mithun, and Zahoor Khan.
In the draft, they roped in veteran Australian all-rounder Dan Christian, who has a great trophy-winning record. They have also signed the likes of Shahbaz Nadeem, Phil Mustard, Jeevan Mendis, Sheldon Jackson, George Worker, and Aakarshit Gomel.
The Super60 USA Tournament Squads After Draft
Here are the teams after the draft:
Rebel Warriors
Pre-Signed: Thisara Perera (Icon), Mitchell Johnson (Platinum), Saurabh Tiwary (Cat A), Miguel Cummins (Cat B), Kennar Lewis (Cat B), Oshane Thomas (Cat C), Samit Patel (Cat C), and Amila Aponso (Cat D).
Drafted: Lendl Simmons (Cat B), Martin Guptill (Cat B), Chaturanga de Silva (Cat B), Jonathan Carter (Cat C), Andre McCarthy (Cat D), Jonathan Foo (Cat D), and Trevon Griffith (Cat D).
The Chicago Players
Pre-Signed: Suresh Raina (Icon), Jacques Kallis (Platinum), Shehan Jayasuriya (Cat A), Kesrick Williams (Cat B), Manpreet Gony (Cat B), Jon-Russ Jaggesar (Cat C), Dilhara Fernando (Cat C), Navin Stewart (Cat D).
Drafted: Varun Aaron (Cat B), Wayne Parnell (Cat B), Siddharth Trivedi (Cat C), Devendra Bishoo (Cat C), Pawan Suyal (Cat D), William Perkins (Cat D), and Vikas Tokas (Cat D).
Detroit Falcons
Pre-Signed: Shakib Al Hasan (Icon), Cameron Delport (Platinum), Rishi Dhawan (Cat A), Sharad Lumba (Cat B), Nasir Hussain (Cat B), Nasir Hussain (Cat B), Malinda Pushpakumara (Cat C), Anthony Bramble (Cat D).
Drafted: Enamul Haque Jr. (Cat B), Mossaddek Hossain (Cat B), Kamrul Islam Rabbi (Cat C), Ariful Haque (Cat C), Al-Amin Hossain (Cat D), Rony Talukdar (Cat D), and Mohammad Nihaduzzaman (Cat D).
LA Strikers
Pre-Signed: Aaron Finch (Icon), Isuru Udana (Platinum), Ben Dunk (Cat A), Ashley Nurse (Cat B), Chadwick Walton (Cat B), Jesal Karia (Cat C), Anureet Singh (Cat C), Chirag Gandhi (Cat D).
Drafted: Naman Ojha (Cat B), Gurkeerat Mann (Cat B), Parvinder Awana (Cat C), Jaskaran Malhotra (Cat C), Nisarg Patel (Cat D), Manan Sharma (Cat D), and Kashyap Prajapati (Cat D).
Morrisville Fighters
Pre-Signed: Harbhajan Singh (Icon), Shaun Marsh (Platinum), Munaf Patel (Cat A), Bipul Sharma (Cat B), Angelo Perera (Cat B), Danushka Gunathilaka (Cat C), Chamara Kapugedera (Cat C), Kristopher Ramsaran (Cat D).
Drafted: Sheldon Cottrell (Cat B), Colin de Grandhomme (Cat B), Jerome Taylor (Cat C), Faiz Fazal (Cat C), Rahul Yadav (Cat D), Suboth Bhati (Cat D), and Elmore Hutchinson (Cat D).
Also Checkout:
Washington Tigers
Pre-Signed: Parthiv Patel (Platinum), Chris Lynn (Cat A), Andrew Tye (Cat B), Ravi Bopara (Cat B), Abhimanyu Mithun (Cat C), Rohan Mustafa (Cat C), and Zahoor Khan (Cat D).
Drafted: Shahbaz Nadeem (Cat B), Dan Christian (Cat B), Phil Mustard (Cat B), Jeevan Mendis (Cat C), George Worker (Cat D), Sheldon Jackson (Cat D), and Aakarshit Gomel (Cat D).
