Playing XI of cricketers who recently left their countries to further their careers in the USA

USA Cricket has increased its number of foreign recruits in recent years, with many talented players from Test-playing nations moving to the USA.

They have at first played league cricket and local matches before becoming eligible to play for the American cricket team.

The USA aims to become a full member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) by 2030, which is the main reason behind the recruits.

On that note, we will form a strong playing XI comprising the players who left their countries to further their careers in the USA.

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Openers - Unmukt Chand (c) and Sunny Sohal

Unmukt Chand is a former India U-19 team captain

ICC U-19 World Cup 2012-winning captain Unmukt Chand could not achieve much success at the senior level. The Indian batter played for multiple IPL franchises from 2011 to 2016, but managed to record only one fifty in 21 matches. Five years after playing his last IPL match, Chand made up his mind to move to the USA in 2021.

Sunny Sohal is a former Punjab Kings and Deccan Chargers batter, who scored 368 runs in 22 IPL matches. The right-handed batter moved to the USA in 2014 and has already represented them in three T20Is.

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Middle Order - Sami Aslam, Smit Patel (wk) and Corey Anderson

Corey Anderson played for New Zealand from 2012 to 2018

Pakistan's batter Sami Aslam and former India U-19 wicket-keeper Smit Patel will form the team's core. Aslam played 13 Tests and four ODIs for Pakistan between 2015 and 2017 but moved to the USA last year because of a lack of opportunities.

Patel, meanwhile, could not grab a spot in the senior Indian team despite performing decently in domestic cricket. The U-19 World Cup 2012-winning player never played in the IPL as well.

Former New Zealand all-rounder Corey Anderson was an integral part of the Blackcaps squad for quite some time. However, he decided to move to the USA last year after staying out of the national team since 2018.

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All Rounders - Shehan Jayasuriya, Bipul Sharma and Dane Piedt

Dane Piedt played nine Tests for South Africa

Former Sri Lankan all-rounder Shehan Jayasuriya retired from the national team and relocated to the USA in January 2021 after playing 30 matches for his country. Jayasuriya is a left-handed batter and a right-arm off-spin bowler.

The other two names in the all-rounders' section are Bipul Sharma and Dane Piedt, both of whom are spin-bowling all-rounders. Bipul's biggest moment was winning the IPL 2016 title with Sunrisers Hyderabad, whereas Piedt played nine Tests for the South African team.

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Bowlers - Juan Theron, Siddharth Trivedi and Liam Plunkett

The three fast bowlers of the team are - Juan Theron, Siddharth Trivedi and Liam Plunkett. Theron was reckoned by many as one of the top pacers in white-ball cricket during the early 2010s. He has already represented the American cricket team in ODIs and T20Is.

Trivedi won IPL 2008 with Rajasthan Royals and is the team's most successful bowler till date in IPL history. But due to a lack of chances, he moved to the USA in 2021.

Liam Plunkett won the 2019 Cricket World Cup with England. The right-arm pacer, however, did not get a chance to play a single game for England after the 2019 Cricket World Cup Final. He signed a deal in USA's Major League Cricket in 2021.