Cheema - Canada's rising star

In Rizwan Cheema, the man of the tournament for the Tri-Series between West Indies, Canada and Bermuda, Canda has unearthed a player of startling potential, writes Faraz Sarwat in the Toronto Star.

A club player from the Toronto leagues with no exposure to first-class cricket, Cheema had never faced bowling as quick as that of the West Indies duo of Daren Powell and Jerome Taylor, both of whom can nudge the speedometer past 90 miles per hour. Cheema said it took him a couple of balls to get used to the speed, then he set about playing his natural game. "I don't care who the bowler is, I just look at the ball and if it's there to be hit, I'll hit it." It's a simple enough philosophy, that made sense in the match against Bermuda (34 off 24 balls with three sixes) but against the West Indies it could have been suicide. Yet on Friday, Cheema smashed the West Indies for 89 runs off a mere 69 balls with ten fours and six mighty sixes and then in the final on Sunday, played another scorcher, hammering 61 runs off only 41 balls, with three sixes and eight fours, half of which came off a single over from Powell. Overnight Cheema has become Canada's most dangerous batsman. No other player including Davison has announced himself with such a bang in Canadian cricket. It is early days, but Cheema's stats after three matches are staggering, with an average of 61 and a strike-rate of 133.