Canada names cricket squad for World Cup qualifier in New Zealand

TORONTO – He’s on the roster but captain Ashish Bagai may not be available for Canada at the 2014 Cricket World Cup Qualifier next month in New Zealand.

Cricket Canada included Bagai on the tournament roster submitted to the International Cricket Council. And it also had him first on the squad list in a tweet issued Tuesday.

But Cricket Canada president Ravin Moorthy said in an interview that Bagai’s presence is not yet 100 per cent.

Bagai is slated to start a new job with McKinsey & Company halfway through the tournament that runs Jan. 13 to Feb. 1. Moorthy says negotiations are continuing to see if Bagai can be made available for the tournament.

Canada’s best-known cricketer rejoined the team last May, saying he had a nine-month window to focus on the sport between graduating from the MBA program at Wharton in Philadelphia in mid-May and starting his new job.

Bagai, Canada’s most capped player, has scored more than 3,500 runs and made more than 150 dismissals as a wicket-keeper.

Bagai is expected to join the squad May 15.

Bagai, Harvir Baidwan and Khurram Chohan all played in the 2011 World Cup when Canada went 1-5 with the lone win coming over Kenya.

Former England under-19 coach Andy Pick, who directed Canada at the 2007 Cricket World Cup, is back at the helm. He succeeds Gus Logie who was let go earlier this month.

The qualifying tournament is to be held at seven venues when Canada and nine other countries compete for the last two remaining berths in the 2105 World Cup.

Other countries are Hong Kong, Kenya, Namibia, Nepal, the Netherlands, Papua New Guinea, Scotland, Uganda and the United Arab Emirates.

The teams have been split into two groups of five each, with the top three from each group progressing to the Super Six stage.

Canada opens against the U.A.E. on Jan. 15 after warmup matches against the Netherlands and Uganda.

Associate members Afghanistan and Ireland have already qualified for the 14-team World Cup, set for Feb. 14 to March 29, 2015, in Australia and New Zealand.

Afghanistan is in Group A with England, Australia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and New Zealand while Ireland is in Group B with South Africa, India, Pakistan, West Indies and Zimbabwe.

The winner of the qualifying tournament will move into Group A while the runner-up slots into Group B.

Sri Lanka won the inaugural qualifying tournament, previously known as the ICC Trophy, in 1979. Other winners were Zimbabwe (1982, 1986 and 1990), the United Arab Emirates (UAE) (1994), Bangladesh (1997), Netherlands (2001), Scotland (2005) and Ireland (2009).

Canada played in the 1979, 2003, 2007 and 2011 editions of the World Cup

The Canadian men are coming off a disappointing showing at a World Twenty20 Championship qualifier where they finished 12th.

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Canada

Ashish Bagai, Harvir Baidwan, Khurram Chohan, Parth Desai, Nikhil Dutta, Jeremy Gordon, Ruvindu Gunasekara, Jimmy Hansra, Nitish Kumar, Usman Limbada, Cecil Pervez, Raza Rehman, Junaid Siddiqui, Zeeshan Siddiqui, Hamza Tariq.