Canada rope in Monty Desai as head coach

Canada have roped in Monty Desai as their new head coach for the upcoming World Cricket League Division 2 Qualifiers. Desai has had coaching experience with Afghanistan, Nepal, and IPL teams Rajasthan Royals and Gujarat Lions, apart from other regional squads in India and Canada. He was Afghanistan's batting coach when they won the World Cup 2019 Qualifiers last year in Zimbabwe.

In all, he has over 12 years of coaching experience at the national and international levels. Most recently, he was the Andhra coach in the Indian domestic circuit.

"Monty's expertise would be the much-needed strategic support to the senior men's team as Cricket Canada embarks on a hectic schedule this month onwards," Cricket Canada president Ranjit Saini said. "I have known Monty for many years and seen him grow as a successful coach. His willingness to support Cricket Canada is much appreciated. This is the best it can get and we are all excited."

Desai is already with the Canada squad which is currently undergoing a training camp in Sri Lanka ahead of the WCL Division 2 Qualifiers.

Canada will feature in the Division 2 Qualifiers next month, along with Hong Kong, Oman, Papua New Guinea, USA and the hosts Namibia. The matches will be in a round-robin format with Canada facing Hong Kong in their first match on April 20.