Edinburgh, Jan 27 (IANS) Scotland have named Richie Berrington as the captain of a 15-man squad for the 2026 Men’s T20 World Cup, with 11 players retained from the 2024 campaign in the West Indies and the United States of America.

The squad selection for the mega event is the first made by new head coach Owen Dawkins, who took charge of the team last month. Afghanistan-born fast bowler Zainullah Ihsan earned his maiden call-up after qualifying to represent Scotland, while Tom Bruce (who switched allegiance from New Zealand), Finlay McCreath, and Oliver Davidson are set for their first World Cup appearance following stints in limited-overs squads over the past year.

“It’s been a whirlwind forty-eight hours for everyone at Cricket Scotland, and I know Steve, Trudy Lindblade, and everyone in the organisation have been working solidly get everything sorted for the players and support staff since we learnt we would be participating at the World Cup.

“We’re all very excited and feeling privileged to have this opportunity. The players have been working hard in a fitness phase in recent weeks, with Scott Hislen preparing for the ICC Cricket World Cup League Two series in Namibia at the end of March, and I do not doubt that this will help us in the next few weeks.

“We were about to begin transitions to more individual skills-specific sessions and started with fielding sessions last week, but that has now been fast-tracked with the news we received on Saturday.

“There is no doubt that other squads in the tournament will have had better opportunities to structure their preparation, and we are at peace with that. We have no doubt we have players in our squad that can make a real impact in this tournament, and we are excited to be going and competing in India,” said Dawkins in a statement.

The announcement is subject to visa approvals for players and staff, which are currently being expedited with the help of ICC. Cricket Scotland have also named two travelling reserves and three non-travelling reserves due to the short turnaround for the tournament, adding that details of travel and warm-up fixtures will be confirmed in the coming days.

Scotland will play West Indies, Italy, and England in Kolkata before facing Nepal in Mumbai, with the top two sides from Group C advancing to the Super Eights. They narrowly missed a Super Eights berth at the 2024 edition on net run rate after a washout against England and a close defeat to Australia.

“The coaching staff, selectors, and I are all really excited about the squad that has been picked. We feel it’s well-balanced and caters to a lot of different scenarios and challenges that the team will face in India.

“There’s obviously a great opportunity for Zainullah Ihsan, and whenever he’s played at youth level or for the “A” squad, he’s shown an exciting range of skills and bowled at genuine pace. We’re delighted for him and excited to see how he performs on his first international tour.

“Oli Davidson has worked tirelessly on his skills and shown tremendous desire and work ethic in recent months to improve, and he also thoroughly deserves his call-up. All the players are really excited to take on the best in the world and grasp the opportunity that has been afforded to them. The squad is full of high-quality cricketers ready to perform, and they are keen to make an impact on the big stage,” said Steve Snell, Cricket Scotland Head of Performance.

Scotland has featured in six previous T20 World Cups, including the last four editions. Scotland failed to qualify through the European Regional Finals last July after losses to Italy and Jersey.

But they were handed a late entry to the mega event on Saturday when Bangladesh declined to play in India, and the ICC refused to move their fixtures to Sri Lanka. Scotland, ranked 14th in the world, were invited as the highest-ranked side not already in the tournament.

Scotland squad: Richie Berrington, Tom Bruce, Matthew Cross, Bradley Currie, Oliver Davidson, Chris Greaves, Zainullah Ihsan, Michael Jones, Michael Leask, Finlay McCreath, Brandon McMullen, George Munsey, Safyaan Sharif, Mark Watt, Bradley Wheal.

Travelling reserves: Jasper Davidson, Jack Jarvis

Non-travelling reserves: Mackenzie Jones, Chris McBride, Charlie Tear.

--IANS

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