Lara on GT20 Canada: 'I'll be there to enjoy some mesmerising cricket'

Legendary batter and former West Indian Captain Brian Lara expressed his excitement ahead of the most-awaited Global T20 Canada which is scheduled to begin on 20th July in CAA Centra, Brampton. Reflecting his eagerness to watch some of the world's most talented T20 cricketers, Lara said, "I am really excited for this year's GT20 Canada's schedule. This year all six teams look fantastic. I'll be there to enjoy some mesmerizing cricket."

This year, the exciting mix of teams will feature Toronto Nationals, Brampton Wolves, Montreal Tigers and Vancouver Knights along with the two debutants– Surrey Jaguars and Mississauga Panthers Adding an extra layer of excitement, legendary West Indian cricketer Brian Lara has joined as a mentor for the tournament. 

The tournament serves as a platform for local Canadian talent to showcase their skills alongside international stars. Lara further added that some of the finest T20 players from around the world would feature in the tournament, "We have some of the great T20 players in the world, we have got the 'Turbanator' Harbhajan Singh, Mohammed Rizwan, we also have the great all-rounder Shakib Al Hassan, along with 'Boom Boom' Afridi and the 'Universe Boss' Chris Gayle." 

Lara's presence as the ambassador for the third edition of Global T20 Canada has not only spurred the enthusiasm among the fans but also among participating teams. The grand line-up of marquee players also includes Caribbean all-rounder Andre Russell, Chris Lynn, Colin de Grandhomme, Colin Munro, Shoaib Malik, Alex Hales, Iftikhar Ahamed, Rassie van der Dussen as their marquee picks for this edition. The tournament is also expected to present Canada's finest talent in cricket who are looking to utilise this exposure of playing alongside the stars of the game. 
 
Action picks up on the 20th of July, when the home team Brampton Wolves will begin their campaign against new entrants Mississauga Panthers. 

Tickets are available on www.gt20.ca 

Team list for Global T20 Canada 2023 

Brampton Wolves: Harbhajan Singh, Colin De Grandhomme, Tim Southee, Mark Sinclair Chapman, Usama Mir, Hussain Talat, Usman Khan, Logan Van Beek, Jan Nicolaas Frylinck, Max O Dowd, Jeremy Gordon, Aaron Johnson, Rizwan Cheema, Shahid Ahamdzai, Rishiv Joshi, Gurpal Singh Sandhu 

Montreal Tigers: Andre Russel, Shakib Al Hassan, Chris Lynn, Sherfane Rutherford, Carlos Brathwaite, Muhammad Abbas Afridi, Zahir Khan, Muhammad Waseem, Akif Raja, Aayan Khan, Dipendra Airee, Kaleem Sana, Srimantha Wijeratne, Matthew Spoors, Bupendra Singh, Dilpreet Singh, Anoop Chima 

Mississauga Panthers: Shoaib Malik, Chris Gayle, Azam Khan, James Neesham, Cameron Scott Delport, Shahnawaz Dahani, Zahoor Khan, Tom Cooper, Cecil Pervez, Jaskarandeep Singh Buttar, Navneet Dhaliwal, Nikhil Dutta, Shreyas Movva, Praveen Kumar, Mihir Patel, Eathan Gibson 

Surrey Jaguars: Alex Hales, Iftikhar Ahmed, Jason Behrendorff, Ben Cutting, Nathan Coulter Nile, Litton Kumar Das, Karim Janat, Mohammad Haris, Sandeep Lamichhane, Ayaan Khan, Jatinder Singh, Bernard Scholtz, Paragat Singh, Dilon Heyliger, Ammar Khalid, Sunny Matharu, Sheel Patel, Kairav Sharma 

Toronto Nationals: Colin Munro, Shahid Afridi, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Zaman Khan, Saim Ayub, Abdullah Shafique, Hamza Tariq, Gerhard Erasmus, Johannes Jonathan Smit, Farhan Malik, Saad Bin Zafar, Nicholas Kirton, Armaan Kapoor, Sarmad Anwar, Rommel Shahzad, Udhaya Bhagwan 

Vancouver Knights: Mohammad Rizwan, Rassie Van Der Dussen, Naveen Ul Haq, Reeza Raphael Hendricks, Corbin Bosch, Najibullah Zadran, Junaid Siddiqui, Vriitya Aravind, Karthik Meiyappan, Ruben Trumplemann, Ravinderpal Singh, Harsh Thaker, Rayyan Pathan, Nawab Singh, Muhammad Kamal, Kanwar Tathgu