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The group stage of the BC Cricket Championship kicks off today at the Meadowbrook Park in Ottawa, Canada. 5 teams - Vancouver Vibes, Victoria Waves, BC Champions, Surrey Shines and Kings XI Kelowna - are all set to battle it out for a prize of 25,000 Canadian Dollars.
Each day will feature two group stage matches, with each team matched up once against all the others. The top two teams after the completion of the round-robin phase will qualify for the semi-finals, with the winner of the tournament set to be crowned on August 13.
Ahead of the high-stakes group stage matches, we conduct a SWOT analysis of all 5 teams in the competition.
#1 Kings XI Kelowna
The Kings XI Kelowna come into this tournament with a well-balanced lineup. The likes of Prabhjot Singh and Jaspreet Singh are the front-line batsmen, but where the strengths of the team lie are in the all-rounders department.
In Ambrish Kalia, Parmindar Dosanjh, Vikramjeet Singh, and Gurmandeep Singh, Kings XI Kelowna have a wealth of versatile all-rounders at their disposal. Wicket-keeper Manjot Buttar's inexperience is a talking point though, with the gloveman having played only 2 games for the team so far.
In the bowling department, however, Irfan Mohammad is the only player with a reasonable record so far, with 19 wickets. The other bowlers such as Kaleem Sana and Karambir Deol don't have impressive numbers next to their names, and their inexperience relative to the other teams in the competition could go against them.
Batsmen to watch out for: Dabeer Ahmed, Prabhjot Singh
Bowlers to watch out for: Irfan Mohammad
All-rounders to watch out for: Ambrish Kalia, Parmindar Dosanjh
Full squad:
Ambrish Kalia, Parminder Dosanjh, Dabeer Ahmed, Manoj Buttar, Vikramjeet Singh, Mohammed Irfan, Gurmandeep Singh, Karambir Deol, Mandeep Singh, Jaspreet Singh, Sana Kaleem, Pranbhkot Singh
#2 Vancouver Vibes
The Vancouver Vibes are another team in the BC Cricket Championship with quality all-rounders. The likes of Kuljot Randhawa (411 runs and 12 wickets) and Gurvinder Singh (498 runs and 26 wickets) have excellent records with both bat and ball.
In Harmandeep Singh and Manpreet Singh, the Vibes have able backups in the department as well. Although the pure batsmen in the team - Baltej Singh and Ravjot Singh Mann - don't have dazzling records, Sukhndeep Sandhu's 463 runs along with 3 fifties do lend some solidity to the batting lineup.
Wicket-keeper Davinder Singh has a 90-run innings as his high score, lending some extra balance to the team. In the bowling department, spinners Prabhjot Singh and Gurtej Singh have taken a combined total of 37 wickets, and could be a handful if the wicket offers turn.
Satvir Singh is the only recognised pacer in the team and has taken only 9 wickets, so this could prove to be a shortcoming of the Vancouver Vibes if the conditions in Ottawa favour the fast bowlers.
Batsmen to watch out for: Sukhndeep Sandhu
Bowlers to watch out for: Prabhjot Singh, Gurtej Singh
All-rounders to watch out for: Kuljot Randhawa, Gurvinder Singh
Full squad:
Gurvinder Singh, Harman Singh, Gurtej Singh, Sukhneep Sandhu, Kuljot Randhawa, Mandeep Singh, Davinder Singh, Manpreet Singh, Ravjot Singh Mann, Satvir Singh, Prabhjot Singh, Baltej Singh
#3 BC Champions
The BC Champions also have a balanced roster, but they have only one batsman who can boast of a quality record - Amandeep Singh, with 520 runs and 2 fifties to his name. The other batters in Ajay Sohal and Udaybir Singh have reasonable numbers, but it remains to be seen if they can step up to the plate in the BC Cricket Championship.
In Pargat Singh and Ajay Sohal, the Champions have decent all-rounders who have shown that they can contribute in both departments.
The team's bowling lineup is undoubtedly the standout. In Harjinder Singh (25 wickets), Zeeshan Wala (35 wickets) and Arashdeep Singh (32 wickets), they have three bowlers capable of picking up wickets at regular intervals.
Parag Sood is the designated wicket-keeper, but has played only 2 games so far. It remains to be seen if the Champions' strong bowling lineup can back up their weaker batting.
Batsmen to watch out for: Amandeep Singh
Bowlers to watch out for: Zeeshan Wala, Harjinder Singh
All-rounders to watch out for: Arashdeep Singh
Full squad:
Amit Rana, Amandip Singh, Ajay Sohal, Harjinder Singh, Parag Sood, Paramjot Singh, Gurkirat Singh, Zeeshan Wala, Udaybir Singh, Gurkirat Singh, Sukhjeet Singh, Arashdeep Singh
#4 Victoria Waves
The Victoria Waves are undoubtedly the team with the strongest batting lineup in the BC Cricket Championship. Harpreet Virk and wicket-keeper Ajmer Hundal have both scored around 380 runs, with consistent scores of over 25.
The all-rounders that the Waves possess are all extremely good batsmen. Harmanpreet Dhillon, Amarpreet Dhillon, Prabhjot Brar and Vishwadeep Gill have all scored over 300 runs and picked up over 10 wickets.
Spinner Sanjay Gulati will be the leader of the bowling lineup, and is the leading wicket-taker of the team so far with 34 scalps. He will be ably supported by spinner Pritinder Singh.
The batting of the Victoria Waves is formidable and if the bowlers can click, they are in with a real shot to win it all.
Batsmen to watch out for: Harpreet Virk
Bowlers to watch out for: Sanjay Gulati
All-rounders to watch out for: Harmanpreet Dhillon, Amarpreet Dhillon, Prabhjot Brar
Full squad:
Harpreet Virk, Harmanpreet Dhillon, Amarpreet Dhillon, Prabhjot Brar, Vishavdeep Gill, Ajmer Hundal, Manish Sudiha, Sanjay Gulati, Gurjit Singh, Pritinder Singh, Raman Sandhu, Gurcharan Singh
#5 Surrey Shines
The Surrey Shines have two solid batsmen in wicket-keeper Dilbag Singh and Joban Singh, who have scored 411 and 316 runs respectively. The other batsmen in the team haven't played enough games to truly leave a mark, and whether they can up their game remains to be seen.
In Harminder Mangra and Harmanpreet Singh, the Shines have two dependable all-rounders who are capable of being match-winners. The bowling lineup does look a little thin, with Harmanpreet's 14 being the most wickets taken by any bowler in the team.
The Shines are the definite underdogs heading into the BC Cricket Championship, but they can't be counted out.
Batsmen to watch out for: Dilbag Singh
Bowlers to watch out for: Gurjeet Aulakh
All-rounders to watch out for: Harmanpreet Singh, Harminder Mangra
Full squad:
Dilbag Singh, Barinder Singh, Joban Singh, Yadwinder Singh Brar, Balqiaz Khan, Harmanpreet Singh, Harminder Mangra, Azadwinder Singh, Harminder Singh, Umaz Azam, Tanuj Kumar, Gurjeet Aulakh, Harmanpreet Singh, Sukhpreet Singh
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