The IMC O50 World Cup is just a few weeks away and will be hosted on one of the world’s most scenic islands. Come February 2025, Sri Lanka will host the most awaited O-50 World Cup, with players from 14 nations setting foot on the island to compete at legendary and picturesque venues. In preparation for the mega event, MCUSA is holding a 3 Nation tournament called the America’s Cup in Houston from December 12^th to 15^th. Friendly neighbors Canada, a West Indies team from the Caribbean islands, the USA National squad, and the USA A team will compete for the America’s Cup, a precursor for the big event to follow a few months later.

Iqbal Mohammed will lead the Canadian team. Iqbal’s cricket career spans decades of excellence at the highest levels. He represented Team Canada in 17 international matches, including ODIs and T20Is, and played in 3 prestigious List-A games against India (1989), England (1992), and New Zealand (1993). His First-Class cricket achievements include 9 years with Rawalpindi, Pakistan, followed by 10 years of cricket in Lancashire, where he made a lasting impact. In recognition of his extraordinary contributions to the sport, Iqbal was awarded the Civil Award for Outstanding Achievement in Sports by the City of Mississauga in 2013.

Zamin Amin will lead the West Indies team. Zamin represented the Guyana U-19 team before migrating to the United States. Zamin played for the USA National team in 1990 and was the leading wicket-taker in the IC Trophy in the Netherlands. He repeated the feat in the 1997 edition as well. Amin represented the USA National team from 1990 to 2004, a long and distinguished stint.

Adnan Rao will lead the USA A squad. He is a product of the famous lineage of TAPE BALL cricketers from Pakistan. Adnan played a lot of cricket in Karachi, Pakistan, before moving to the USA to pursue his education. He subsequently moved to Bahrain and finally returned to the USA to settle down. Wherever he moved, cricket moved with him. He left his homeland, Pakistan, but cricket never left him. Adnan is a sportsman at heart, having played cricket, football, and hockey in his youth.

Sanjeewa Weerasinghe will lead the USA National Squad. Sanjeewa represented the famous NCC cricket team in Sri Lanka and was captain of the Nondescript Cricket Club for several years.  Nondescripts Cricket Club is a first-class cricket team based in Colombo, Sri Lanka. NCC was a perennial supplier of wonderful cricketers to the Sri Lankan national team. Sanjeewa moved to the LA region in the United States and has been playing cricket for the past 15 years in LA. He has an envious record in MCUSA – IMC games and is fresh from back-to-back hundreds when he played in the Tri-Nation Cup involving Australia, USA, New Zealand, and New Zealand A team.

The Americas Cup will be held in Houston, TX, under the auspices of MCUSA, which takes great pride in hosting cricketing events and taking great care of its guests. MCUSA will deploy eight cameras to capture LIVE and stream the games. A drone will be deployed to get aerial shots of the match underway. A third umpire will be utilized to adjudicate line decisions. This will be the first-ever in the history of IMC-MCUSA games and is being initiated experimentally. Hence, few of the games will have these unique facilities. Experienced and highly skilled commentators will provide their expertise and the voice behind the pictures for live streaming of the games.

The weather is promising, all four teams are well-matched, and one can hardly wait for D-day when the tournament begins. The wickets at Prairie View Complex are the most sporting surfaces, which have something for the bowler and the batsmen. The outfields are as good as you can get.

I wish all four teams the very best of luck. May the best team win. The USA A squad has many players knocking on the selectors’ doors. This tournament is a massive opportunity for the squad members. The other three teams will utilize this opportunity to get their players ample game time. In that sense, this will be a WIN-WIN-WIN for all four teams.

Ravi Suri

MCUSA Media