Beyond the boundary: Global ripple effect of sub-continent cricket seen in ICC T20 WC

What we are seeing nowadays is perhaps the Golden Age of Indian cricket. The impact of India, and in a broader sense, the entire Indian sub-continent, on the ongoing 2026 ICC T20 World Cup, is easily visible in almost every team. It is clear that players from the Indian subcontinent are the dominant force across the world nowadays.

In the ongoing T20 World Cup, there are three team captains whose origins lie in India while two others are from Pakistan. Some teams have a sprinkling of Sri Lankans too.

Gujarat cricketer Monank Patel leads USA

The US team is led by Monank Dilipbhai Patel, a 32-year-old wicketkeeper-batter who was born in the town of Anand in Gujarat. He played for Gujarat at the under-16 and under-18 levels. In 2010 he received a green card and moved permanently to the USA in 2016 to set up a restaurant in New Jersey.

Under Monank Patel’s leadership, the USA recorded several important victories including a group-stage victory over Pakistan in the 2024 edition of the T20 World Cup

However, he continued to play cricket and was a central figure in the growth of American cricket after he made his debut in 2019. Under his leadership, the USA recorded several important victories including a group-stage victory over Pakistan in the 2024 edition of the T20 World Cup. Patel has scored four centuries in international cricket which include three centuries in ODIs and one in T20I.

The vice-captain of the USA is also an Indian named Jasdeep (Jessy) Singh. He was born in Queens, New York, to Indian parents who had migrated from Punjab. He is now settled in New Jersey. Including Patel and Jessy Singh, there are a dozen players whose origins are in India and Pakistan but they are representing the USA. In addition, there is also Shehan Jayasuriya who was born in Colombo, Sri Lanka. He carries the famous name of Jayasuriya but is not related to the legendary Sanath Jayasuriya whose explosive batting helped Sri Lanka to win the World Cup in 1996.

Vincent Vinay Kumar (centre) is the assistant coach of the T20 World Cup team. He was also head coach of the USA Under-19 team

Former Andhra skipper Vincent is assistant coach of USA

The assistant coach of the USA team is our own Telugu bidda. Former Andhra captain and coach Vincent Vinay Kumar is with the USA team. He was also head coach of the USA team which played in the recent ICC Men’s Under-19 World Cup. The head coach is former Sri Lankan wicketkeeper Pubudu Dassanayake, who played 11 Tests and 16 ODIs for Lanka.

Punjab’s Jatinder Singh is Oman skipper

Next, we come to Oman which is being led by another Indian, 36-year-old Jatinder Singh. He was born on March 5, 1989 in Ludhiana, Punjab. His father, Gurmail Singh, immigrated to Oman and worked for the Royal Oman Police as a carpenter. Later Jatinder, his mother and other siblings too moved to Oman where Jatinder excelled in cricket.

Jatinder Singh with India and Hyderabad player Tilak Varma

Jatinder made his T20I debut in July 2015 and in ODIs 2019. After being shunted around the middle order, he nailed down his spot as an opener, both in T20Is and 50-over cricket. His maiden ODI century came in 2021, when he smashed 107 off just 62 balls in a win against Nepal, and followed it up with three more in the next four years. His unbeaten 118 against Papua New Guinea in 2022 is the highest individual score for Oman in ODIs. As of now, Jatinder is Oman’s leading run-scorer across both white-ball formats. Almost all the team members of Oman are of Indian or Pakistani origin. The Chief Coach is the famous Sri Lankan Duleep Mendis.

Canada skipper Dilpreet Bajwa, another Punjabi, is only 23 years old

Another Indian named Dilpreet Bajwa leads Team Canada. He was born in Gurdaspur in Punjab and completed his education at Guru Arjun Dev Senior Secondary School in Dhariwal. In 2020, he emigrated to Canada where his cricket playing talents found recognition. At only 23 years of age, Dilpreet is one of the youngest captains in the present edition of the world cup. Apart from Dilpreet there are 12 more players of Indian origin in the Canadian team.

At only 23 years of age, Dilpreet Bajwa is one of the youngest captains in the present edition of the world cup

Sialkot-born Sikandar Raza is Zimbabwe’s leader

Zimbabwe is led by Pakistan-born Sikandar Raza. Raza was born in Sialkot in Pakistan and was studying to become a pilot in the Pakistan Air Force. But he had vision problems which prevented his ambition from being fulfilled. Instead, he blossomed as a cricketer.

In 2002, Raza moved with his family to Zimbabwe. On the October 23, 2024, Raza became the first Zimbabwe player to score a T20I century when he made 133 not out off 43 balls against Gambia in the 2024 T20 World Cup. Today, he leads Zimbabwe into the campaign in the 2026 edition of the World Cup.

Sikander Raza was born in Sialkot in Pakistan and was studying to become a pilot in the Pakistan Air Force

Italy has players from the sub-continent in the squad

Team Italy has two Indians, two Pakistanis and one Sri Lankan in the squad. But the team is led by Wayne Madsen, a South African player with multiple talents. Madsen has played hockey for South Africa in the Commonwealth Games and hockey World Cup and he is also an excellent cricketer.

Team Italy has two Indians, two Pakistanis and one Sri Lankan in the squad

Pakistan-born Waseem is captain of UAE

Pakistan-born Muhammad Waseem is leading the UAE team but that is not so surprising because almost all cricket players in the UAE are from the Indian subcontinent. Waseem was born and raised in the city of Mian Channu in the Punjab province and qualified to play for the UAE in April 2021 by meeting the ICC’s three-year residency requirement.

Pakistan-born Muhammad Waseem is leading the UAE team but that is not so surprising because almost all cricket players in the UAE are from the Indian subcontinent

Severe shortage of local talent, ICC should address the issue

While it may be a big boost to the ego of many Indians and Pakistanis that foreign countries have selected their players and some are even captains, it shows a severe shortcoming of players in the overall picture of world cricket.

The scenario indicates that local people in countries such as Italy, Canada and the USA are not taking cricket seriously. This is something that the ICC should look into. True popularity of cricket will come about only when the local population of these nations begin to excel at the game and not depend only upon the Indians and Pakistani people who have settled there.