Global T20 Canada: All you need to know about Toronto Nationals

General Overview

In the headlines for being the side to pick Steven Smith, thus fast-tracking his comeback to competitive cricket, the Toronto Nationals will head into the tournament as the obvious favourites, flaunting an arsenal of internationally acclaimed and sought after Twenty20 cricketers. What will separate this side from the rest in the course of the tournament will be the depth they possess in terms of the endless batting and bowling options they seem to have.

Their trump card will be Kamran Akmal, rather overlooked in a team of relatively more popular cricketers, he will be a very important part of the side. With a much-improved set of gloves, he's far from the sloppy wicket-keeper who got dropped from the national side years ago. A revamped batting technique saw him get runs for fun in the recent PSL, yet he retains the fast footwork with which he charged at the Indian bowlers and forced them into submission all the way back in 2005. Watch out for him!

Another sphere where Nationals have a massive edge ahead of the other sides is the captaincy, Darren Sammy is one of the best to have captained in this format. Strategically sound, he rallies his troops with his spirited never-say-die attitude and prefers to lead by example, as he did at Peshawar Zalmi. His methods are effective too and don’t make for just romanticism. With two World T20 titles to his name, his leadership has already won several laurels, and he will be eager to continue the legacy.

Smith too, will be keen to get out on the ground and get going after missing the IPL and Australia’s tour of England so far. Since he won’t be able to play the Australian domestic cricket, this is one of his limited opportunities to make a case for selection once his suspension gets over and also to keep himself from being rusty ahead of the World Cup next year. But more than anything, this is his beginning at a clean slate, a second chance, and he will want to make most of it.

Team Schedule

Squad

ICC World Twenty20 India 2016: Final - England v West Indies

Darren Sammy (c)

Steve Smith

Kieron Pollard

Kamran Akmal

Hussain Talat

Rumman Raees

Nikhil Dutta

Johnson Charles

Kesrick Williams

Naved Ahmad

Nizakat Khan

Farhan Malik

Nitish Kumar

Usama Mir

Rohan Mustafa

Mohammad Umair

Anton Devcich

Strengths

Toronto

have

plenty of world-class all-rounders

One of the best-organized sides, the Nationals are a formidable bunch with everyone but two players in the squad having had a taste of international cricket. More importantly, they have made sure to have the team balance in mind while signing players during the drafting process. Hence, they find themselves with a host of talented batsmen and bowlers, all experienced, to pick eleven from to feature in their opening game against Vancouver Knights.

Johnson Charles and Anton Devcich are both proven players of the format and both particularly good in the field restriction phase. Devcich is one of the numerous players in the squad serving dual skills to his side with his handy spin bowling, alongside the likes of skipper Sammy and the Mumbaikar Trinidadian Kieron Pollard.

In the bowling department, watch out for Rumman Raees, in the brief phase he has had for Pakistan at the highest level in adhering to whatever requirements asked of by the captain. Kesrick Williams is another commodity in T20 cricket that teams will be glad to have, a rather unassuming build, he does the job well with his tidy medium pacers that allow batsmen no breathing room.

Weaknesses

If put through a very fine sieve of analysis, the one apparent shortcoming in this team seems to be the lack of variety. The players do not differ from each other in terms of style of play, be it the batsmen or the bowling stocks. This is a particularly alarming sign in the age of modern Twenty20, the age of graphic scrutinizing and metric-based player dissection, where a one-dimensional side can be easily countered by formulating uncomplicated specific plans.

For instance, two out of their three potential top order, Devcich and Charles, like pace on the ball and struggle against swing, and on occasions where the ball grips onto the surface. The two Caribbean all-rounders are identical bowlers relying on slow cutters and their variations primarily come from a change of release points. If examined hard enough, it is easy to prepare to play against a team of this nature.

Prediction for the season

Pollard will have a huge impact to play for the Nationals

Given how they have stacked up a team that has most bases covered, expect Toronto to be one of the sides to go all the way to finals, perhaps even a title victory, with their closest competitors being Edmonton Royals with their fine armoury of aggression laden cricketers. Toronto will have the advantage of experience in their side, with the captain having won two World T20 titles.

Smith will also be an integral part of the leadership group (are we allowed to say that anymore?), given his vast experience as a captain in international cricket as well as leagues, his inspiring presence will be a great asset to the Nationals in their bid to go all the way in the tournament.