Led by Canada and USA, an army of more than three dozen Indian-origin cricketers will get to perform on the “home stage” when the T20 World Cup begins in India and Sri Lanka from February 7.

Across the 20 teams taking part in the ICC event, Canada (11) have the most number of Indian-origin players, followed by USA (9), Oman (7) and UAE (7). While hosts India would be expected to defend their title at home, the “Indian hand” will be at play in a majority of the participating teams.

Let’s have a look at some of the cricketers of Indian origin who could make a big impact with their performances in the T20 showpiece:

Saurabh Netravalkar: The USA left-arm pacer who played U-19 cricket for India has reached Mumbai for the World Cup opener against the home team, having proven himself in the tournament’s previous edition. The 34-year-old software engineer was one of the pillars of USA’s successful campaign then, in which the debutants upset likes of Pakistan to qualify for the Super 8 stage.

Monank Patel: Captain of USA in the tournament-opener against India would be Anand-born Monank Patel, who too established himself on the World Cup stage with a match-winning half-century against Pakistan. The 32-year-old opening batsman is looking forward to facing his Gujarat U-19 teammate Jasprit Bumrah, while reminiscing their younger days off the field.

Jaspreet Singh: With Italy making their World Cup debut, Phagwara-born Jaspreet would be getting all the attention. The 32-year-old moved to a town close to Milan with his family back in 2006. He started his cricketing journey there with tape-ball cricket before graduating to red-ball cricket in 2016-17, leading to his international debut in 2019. Getting to play in an ICC event is stuff of dreams for the pacer, who worked as an Uber driver so long ago to make ends meet.

Aryan Dutt: Aryan Dutt already has the experience of playing in front of Indians fans during the ODI World Cup in 2023. The sole cricketer of Indian lineage in the Netherlands squad, the 22-year-old would be aiming to surprise higher-ranked teams. Dutt’s family had moved to the Netherlands from Punjab back in the 1980s.

Dilpreet Bajwa: Gurdaspur-born Bajwa moved to Canada only in 2020 and, six years later, he returns to India as captain of the Canadian team. Despite making a bagful of runs in age-group cricket in Punjab, he did not get the opportunities he wished for. However, he did not let that phase bog him down and vowed to continue his cricketing journey in a less competitive environment. The 23-year-old was part of Canada’s campaign in the 2024 T20 World Cup.

Jatinder Singh: The 36-year-old Ludhiana-born Oman captain has been around for more than a decade, but never got the opportunity to play in India. However, with all of Oman’s league fixtures scheduled in Sri Lanka, it is unlikely that Jatinder would be able to realise his dream of playing in his native land.

Also read: Pakistan to play in T20 WC, but skip game against India