Meet The 3-Pakistan Born Players Part Of Canada’s T20 World Cup 2024 Squad

The Canadian team in the 2024 T20 World Cup is set to play arguably the two biggest names in their cricket history when they face Pakistan and India in New York and Florida on Tuesday (June 11) and Saturday (June 15), with a spot in the Super 8 up for grabs.

The Canadian team has impressed in the tournament so far as, after a defeat to co-hosts the USA in the tournament opener in a high-scoring thriller, they created history by defeating Ireland and registering their first-ever victory against a Test-playing nation in history.

Meet The Pakistan Born Players In Canada’s Team

Saad Bin Zafar – Canada’s captain Saad Bin Zafar is Gujranwala, Pakistan but moved to Canada at an early age. His cricketing journey started by playing tape ball cricket with his friends. The 37-year-old has been part of the national team for almost two decades after making his debut in 2008. He made his T20I debut for Canada in 2019 and maiden ODI appearence in 2023.

Junaid Siddiqui: The 35-year-old all-rounder was born in Karachi and has been a member of the Canadian team since 2011. Like Saad, Siddique has been settled in Canada from a young age having started his career in school cricket in Mississauga. He made his T20I and ODI debut in 2012 and 2019 respectively.

Kaleem Sana: Kaleen Sana’s story is different from Zafar and Siddiqui as he was born in Rawalpini and started his career playing domestic cricket in Pakistan. He made his first-class debut in 2009 and played in the Pakistan domestic structure till 2014. He was part of Pakistan’s 2010 U-19 World Cup team, which included Babar Azam, but missed the tournament due to injury. Sana was Babar’s teammate for a number of years in the U-16 age group.

Sana started for Canada in 2021 while making his T20I and ODI debut in 2022 and 2023 respectively.