All 12 men's squads for the ICC World Twenty20 2010 have been confirmed with the very best players in the world all getting ready for the big event, which gets underway in the West Indies later this month.
Defending champion Pakistan will be led by Shahid Afridi and features a strong line-up that includes the experience of Misbah-ul-Haq, Mohammed Asif, Abdul Razzaq and Umar Gul along with the burgeoning talents of Umar Akmal, Saeed Ajmal and Mohammed Aamer.
One side that will be bursting to succeed during the tournament will be host West Indies, led by the always-exciting Chris Gayle. With the men from the Caribbean based in Guyana for its two matches in the group stage, it will be a particular incentive for the likes of Ramnaresh Sarwan, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Narsingh Deonarine to perform well in front of their adoring home support.
India will be coming into the event with plenty of Twenty20 practice with most of its players having been taking part in the Indian Premier League. The 2007 champion will again be led by wicketkeeper-batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni and is not short on thrilling players in the form Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan, Yusuf Pathan and others.
The two teams that qualified for the event, Afghanistan and Ireland, will be anxious to show the world they are not there simply to make up the numbers. The Afghanis were playing in Division 5 of the Pepsi ICC World Cricket League less than two years ago and now find themselves up against India and South Africa in Group C, illustrating the sort of opportunities awaiting Associate and Affiliate teams with talent and ambition.
Returning to the scene of their triumphs in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007, William Porterfield's Ireland will want to reproduce the sort of form that saw them reach the last eight of that tournament and with mouth-watering ties against the host and near-neighbour England in the offing, they will be confident of causing another upset or two.
The action gets underway in Guyana on 30 April with the final taking place in Kensington Oval, Barbados on 16 May. St Lucia is the other venue for the men's event with the early stages of the women's tournament taking place in St Kitts.
Men's squads:
Afghanistan: Nawroz Mangal (captain), Mohammad Nabi, Karim Sadiq, Mirwais Ashraf, Rais Ahmadzai, Dawlat Ahmadzai, Mohammad Shahzad, Hamid Hassan, Samiullah Shinwari, Noor Ali, Asghar Stanikzai, Shahpoor Zadran, Shabir Noori, Sayed Nasrat, Shafiq Shafaq.
Australia: Michael Clarke (captain), Dan Christian, Brad Haddin, Nathan Hauritz, David Hussey, Michael Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Dirk Nannes, Tim Paine, Steven Smith, Shaun Tait, David Warner, Shane Watson, Cameron White.
Bangladesh: Shakib Al Hasan (captain), Mushfiqur Rahim, Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Mohammad Ashraful, Aftab Ahmed, Mahmudullah, Naeem Islam, Mashrafe Mortaza, Abdur Razzak, Shafiul Islam, Rubel Hossain, Syed Rasel, Suhrawadi Shuvo, Jahurul Islam.
England: Paul Collingwood (captain), James Anderson, Ravi Bopara, Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Craig Kieswetter, Michael Lumb, Eoin Morgan, Kevin Pietersen, Ajmal Shahzad, Ryan Sidebottom, Graeme Swann, James Tredwell, Luke Wright, Michael Yardy.
India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan, Dinesh Karthik, Ravindra Jadeja, Zaheer Khan, Praveen Kumar, Ashish Nehra, Harbhajan Singh, Piyush Chawla, Vinay Kumar, Rohit Sharma.
Ireland: William Porterfield (captain), Peter Connell, Alex Cusack, George Dockrell, Trent Johnston, Nigel Jones, Gary Kidd, John Mooney, Kevin O'Brien, Niall O'Brien, Boyd Rankin, Paul Stirling, Andrew White, Gary Wilson.
New Zealand: Daniel Vettori (captain), Brendon McCullum, Jesse Ryder, Martin Guptill, Ross Taylor, Scott Styris, Aaron Redmond, Jacob Oram, Gareth Hopkins, Rob Nicol, Nathan McCullum, Kyle Mills, Tim Southee, Shane Bond, Ian Butler.
Pakistan: Shahid Afridi (captain), Salman Butt, Mohammad Hafeez, Khalid Latif, Misbah-ul-Haq, Fawad Alam, Umar Akmal, Abdul Razzaq, Yasir Arafat, Hammad Azam, Kamran Akmal, Umar Gul, Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Aamer, Saeed Ajmal.
South Africa: Graeme Smith (captain), Jacques Kallis, Loots Bosman, Johan Botha, Mark Boucher, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Herschelle Gibbs, Rory Kleinveldt, Charl Langeveldt, Albie Morkel, Morne Morkel, Dale Steyn, Juan Theron, Roelof van der Merwe.
Sri Lanka: Kumar Sangakkara (captain), Muttiah Muralitharan, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Mahela Jayawardene, Dinesh Chandimal, Angelo Mathews, Thissara Perera, Nuwan Kulasekera, Suraj Randiv, Ajantha Mendis, Lasith Malinga, Chanaka Welagedara, Chamara Kapugedara, Sanath Jayasuriya, Chinthaka Jayasinghe.
West Indies: Chris Gayle (captain), Sulieman Benn, Dwayne Bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Narsingh Deonarine, Andre Fletcher, Wavell Hinds, Nikita Miller, Kieron Pollard, Denesh Ramdin, Ravi Rampaul, Kemar Roach, Darren Sammy, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Jerome Taylor.
Zimbabwe: Prosper Utseya (captain), Brendan Taylor, Charles Coventry, Andy Blignaut, Hamilton Masakadza, Tatenda Taibu, Greg Lamb, Elton Chigumbura, Vusi Sibanda, Ray Price, Graeme Cremer, Chamu Chibhabha, Chris Mpofu, Timycen Maruma, Craig Ervine.
