The Malaysia Cricket Association (MCA) has announced the squads for the MCA T20 Super Series set to get underway on Tuesday behind closed doors at the Kinrara Oval.
In light of the cancellation of this year’s Malaysian Super Women League, two national women’s team players have been named in each of the four squads with every playing XI mandated to include at least one female player.
Squads
Defending champions Southern Hitters will be captained by all-rounder Syed Aziz Mubarak and will feature Mas Elysa and Nik Atiela as their women’s team representatives. The Hitters will look to left-arm spinner Anwar Rahman for control in the middle overs while hoping that southpaw Muhammad Imam Jawfer, who walloped 81 (27) against the Western Warriors in last month’s T10 Bash, can transfer his form into T20 cricket.
As skipper of the Northern Strikers, Virandeep Singh will have the luxury of calling on seamers Amir Khan and Syazrul Idrus as well as brother Pavandeep, who is Malaysia’s leading spinner. Add the ferocious hitting of Aminuddin Ramly to the mix and you can see why the Strikers are one of the pre-tournament favorites. Bolstering their star cast is Malaysian Women’s team skipper Winnifred Duraisingam and fellow national women’s teammate Aiysa Eleesa.
National men’s skipper Faiz Ahmad will lead a Central Smashers outfit that includes opener Anwar Arudin and left-arm spinner Fitri Sham. Seam bowling all-rounder Anwar Rahman will add balance to a side that also includes Wan Julia and Ainna Hamizah from the national women’s team.
The Western Warriors, skippered by wicket-keeper-batsman Shafiq Sharif, features Women’s team opener Yusrina Yakoop and her national teammate Intan Jamahidayu. Their batting fortunes will rest heavily on skipper Sharif, who will be looking to all-rounders Sharvin Muniandy and Suharril Fetri for support.
Despite the cancellation of the Super Women League, Yusrina is looking at the MCA T20 Super Series as a chance to develop her skills.
“Playing with the boys in the same team will enable me to be more aggressive with my game, gain confidence and improve my skills, so I am looking forward to this T20 series,” she said.
Schedule and Streaming
The Hitters and Warriors square off on Tuesday in the curtain-raiser of the 5-week-long tournament. Each of the four teams will play the other three teams twice in the league stage before a series of qualifiers and an eliminator culminate in the final on October 20th.
Indian viewers can watch the action on the Fan Code App while Willow TV will be streaming the Super Series across North America. Viewers in the rest of the world can tune in via the MCA’s official YouTube and Facebook pages.
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