A big-hitting batsman who also bowls some handy medium pace, Rizwan Cheema came to notice with a 61-ball 89 against West Indies in his second ODI. In the Canada T20 tournament, in October 2008, he hit ten sixes, more than either Sanath Jayasuriya or Shahid Afridi, and was his team's top run-getter, averaging over 60 in the series. Born and raised in Pakistan, Cheema, who moved to Canada in the early 2000s, had only ever played cricket at club level, but his tendency to belt the ball into orbit caught attention in the Toronto and District Cricket Association league. He turned in a noteworthy season in 2005, scoring 627 runs in 14 matches at just under 50, and taking 24 wickets at 13.12. After a disappointing 2006, Cheema established himself as the league's most dangerous batsman the following year with two big hundreds. He went on to make his international debut in the summer of 2008 with impressive results, narrowly missing out in a maiden ODI hundred against Netherlands in July 2009. Later that month Cheema was one of six players awarded central contracts as Cricket Canada sought to professionalise its structures, and was appointed captain of the national side for the ICC America's Division One Championship in Bermuda in Ashish Bagai's absence.
Faraz Sarwat