Canada without Cheema for Windies domestic tour

The Canadian squad for West Indies' domestic one-day tournament beginning in November features some new inclusions, but is weakened by the notable absence of batsman Rizwan Cheema. One of the star performers in the tri-series in King City also involving West Indies and Bermuda in August, Cheema scored two half-centuries in three ODIs and averaged 61.33 in his debut series.

The Canadian Cricket Association told Cricinfo that Cheema was omitted because he did have a travel document.

While Sunil Dhaniram has been retained as captain, Umar Bhatti, the fast bowler who missed tri-series, has been appointed his deputy, marking another change from that tournament when Abdool Samad, the middle-order batsman, was vice-captain. Samad will also keep wickets as Ashish Bagai misses out due to work commitments.

Sandeep Jyoti, the opening batsman who made his last ODI appearance in January 2007 against Scotland, makes a return to the squad. Qaiser Ali, the middle order batsman who has also played domestic cricket in Pakistan, too finds a place after being left out for the tri-series. Zahid Hussain, the legspinner, who has played six first-class matches in Pakistan, is the fresh face in the team.

USA and Canada are the two overseas teams invited to participate in the nine-team tournament which runs between November 13 and 23.

Squad: Sunil Dhaniram (capt), Abdool Samad (wk), Mohammad Iqbal, Sandeep Jyoti, Qaiser Ali, Khurram Chohan, Zahid Hussain, Harvir Baidwan, Henry Osinde, Eion Katchay, Karun Jethi, Umar Bhatti, Asif Mulla.