Here, cricket means South Asia

When England walk out for their first match of this junior World Cup against Nepal a week from today, they will be led by Birminghan-born Mo...

When England walk out for their first match of this junior World Cup against Nepal a week from today, they will be led by Birminghan-born Moeen Ali, whose deputy is Essex’s Varun Kumar. The captain is of Pakistani origin, the No 2 has strong Indian roots.

South Asia’s hold over world cricket extends far beyond the monetary to something more permanent: Most youth teams are dominated by players from this region. Indeed, 30 players with non-Asian countries have connections with this region; add to that the 70 players representing Asian countries and it’s safe to say that there will be at least one player from the sub-continent or a Non-Resident Asian on the field every day of the tournament.

What’s new you ask, when England have had an India-born captain for the seniors, and Shivnaraine Chanderpaul skippers the West Indies. The difference is the numbers and spread.

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The core of the West Indies team is Indian. Openers Richard Ramdeen and Gajanand Singh will be vital to coach Jimmy Adams’s coach plans while spinner Sunil Narien and Rishi Bachan are said to be bowling spearheads. The latter two have picked up loads of wicket on their preparatory tour of Pakistan and are expected to thrive on sub-continent wickets at Colombo. In truth, Narien and Bachan confirm the stereotype about Indians being picked for spin. Narien started out as a medium pacer but only after he started bowling spin at the nets did he get a call to the national side.

The same is true for all the ‘other’ Indians in various team. They are either batsmen or spinners — not one pacer with an Indian connection.

New Zealand had Deepak Patel in the 1990s and Jeetan Patel on the fringes of the national team at present but 18-year-old Roneel Hira is different. Unlike the Patels, he’s a specialist and, with 1000 runs in the junior league, seems set to have a longer international career than the Patels.

South Africa had long closed their doors to players from the sub-continent until Hashim Amla walked in. Now they have Sachin fan and national hockey player Romano Ramoo who, like his Indian idol, fancies himself as a batsman and a part-time spinner who can also bowl medium pace.

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The lesser teams have a larger sub-continent presence. Half of the US team has an Asian connection while Scotland has two of them.

Suddenly it seems the shifting of the ICC headquarters closer to Asia is something to do with the trend on the cricket field.

Aussies’ Khwaja Oz-man

The one country that has so far had indigenous players is Australia, so Pakistan-born Usman Khwaja is a pathbreaker of sorts. Khwaja, born in changed it all. left-hand bat who plays for the New South Wales second XI. On the Aussies’ tour of India last year he even captained the team in one match, under their policy of a different skipper for each game.

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