Jimmy Hansra has been named the captain in Canada's 18-man preliminary squad for the 2012 World Twenty20 qualifier, which begins in Dubai from March 13. The final 14-man squad will be named on February 13.

Top-order batsman Zubin Surkari, who scored 5, 19 and 2 in the Carribean T20 in mid-January, was left out of the squad. The only other player to miss out from the squad that played in the Carribean T20 is left-arm spinner Salman Nazar. Canada had lost all their four matches in that tournament.

Sixteen Associate and Affiliate teams will compete in the 72-match qualifying tournament in the UAE, for two available spots in the World Twenty20. Canada are placed in Group A, alongside Afghanistan, Netherlands, Papua New Guinea, Hong Kong, Bermuda, Denmark and Nepal.

Squad: Jimmy Hansra (capt), Rizwan Cheema (vice-capt), Manny Aulakh, Harvir Baidwan, Rustam Bhatti, Khurram Chohan, Parth Desai, Jeremy Gordon, Tyson Gordon, Ruvindu Gunasekera, Zahid Hussain, Nitish Kumar, Usman Limbada, Henry Osinde, Hiral Patel, Raza-ur-Rehman, Junaid Siddiqui, Hamza Tariq