The USA Cricket Association has announced the 14 players who will be leaving on Wednesday for Toronto to play in three Twenty20 matches beginning on August 11 against Afghanistan, Canada and Trinidad & Tobago as well as a two-day match against Canada.
Anand Tummala, Amir Nanjee, Charan Singh, George Adams, Stuart Mills and Hussain Haidar will all be making their debuts for USA. Jignesh Desai, who last played for USA at the 2006 ICC Americas Division One in Canada, has been recalled at the age of 37 and named captain of the squad while Andy Mohammed gets his second opportunity at the senior level after debuting against Jamaica last year.Anand Tummala-USA's Next ALL-ROUNDER?
Anand moved to the USA in 2007 and has been part of the South East Regional team since performing exceedingly well in the USACA National Championship. In recognition of his superb and consistent all-round performances, Anand was selected in 2010 to represent the USA national team in the T20 World Cup Qualifiers in Dubai. Unfortunately, for the USA and Anand, he could not participate due to the fact that he narrowly missed the minimum residency requirements of four years before an individual can represent any country in an ICC tournament. Brushing aside this disappointment, Anand focused and worked hard on improving all aspects of his game. In April 2011, he met the residency requirements and is now eligible to represent USA in any ICC tournament.
Anand is an excellent middle order batsman who is technically sound with a good temperament and has shown that he is capable of building innings. He has an uncanny ability to keep the scoreboard ticking at the start of his innings and then accelerate towards the middle and end of the innings playing good quality cricketing shots to hit boundaries and sixes. Anand is a high quality medium pace bowler who swings the ball and relies on line and length which makes him an asset to any side in all forms of the game. Anand is also a very good fielder and has one of the safest pair of hands. A feature of any performance by Anand is his ability to quickly assess the current situation of a match and adjust his game accordingly to suit the needs of his team.
Growing up in India, Anand played most of his cricket in Delhi including school, college, age-group, university and ultimately realizing the dream of representing Delhi in the Ranji Trophy (India's premier first class cricket tournament) in 2001. The experience gave Anand the opportunity to play alongside and against world class cricketers like Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra and Sourav Ganguly to name a few.
Anand also traveled with teams representing the Delhi District Cricket Association in tournaments as Vice Captain during the England tour in 1995 and as Captain during the South Africa tour in 1996. Between 1996 and 1998, he was part of the world renowned MRF Pace Foundation in India which is a training academy for pace bowlers from all over the world under the leadership of the great Australian fast bowler Dennis Lillee. In addition, Anand represented the Bishen Bedi (former India skipper) Cricket Coaching Trust teams on tours to England in 2001 and Australia in 2007.
Anand's desire to pursue his education resulted in him enrolling in the Master of Business Administration program from the University of Wales and moving to the United Kingdom in 2005. It was during his stay in Wales that Anand excelled both on and off the field. He had the honor of being the captain and coach of the University of Wales cricket team in 2005 and 2006. He was also contracted as a player and senior coach by the Croesyceiliog Cricket Club in the South Wales Premier League. During his stay in the United Kingdom Anand had the privilege of playing alongside former West Indian greats like Richie Richardson, Jimmy Adams and former New Zealand allrounder Chris Harris in exhibition matches. The University of Wales sponsored Anand for the prestigious level I and level II ECB coaching certifications. Off the field, Anand was the recipient of the Best Full-Time International Student Award (MBA) and also held the post of "Overseas Officer" in the University of Wales Newport Students Union.
After moving to the USA in 2007, Anand has not only managed to play with a high level of consistency, but also put in a lot of effort and time into coaching the South East Region and various age group levels at the Cricket Academy of USA on a regular basis. Anand has also been instrumental in taking cricket to schools in the Atlanta, Georgia area inclusive of introducing and implementing a development program involving more than 200 physical education teachers in the Fulton County school system which has earned him high praise from children, parents and authorities. He is also a Certified England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) level II Cricket Coach and a current member of the England & Wales Cricket Board Coaches Association since 2006.Anand owes a lot of his success to his parents who have supported him in all aspects of life. An excellent work ethic has ensured that he has remained focused and determined in achieving his goals.It is just a matter of time before Anand dons the USA colors and represents the country at the highest level. Good luck, Anand!
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