Nisarg Patel ruled ineligible by ICC

USA allrounder Nisarg Patel was declared ineligible on Tuesday by the ICC from taking any part in the ICC Americas Division One T20 tournament in Indianapolis. The ICC declined to comment on the matter but according to a USACA official, not enough documentation was provided to the ICC to prove that Patel had been in the USA the required 183 days per year for the four years immediately preceding the start of the tournament.

Born in India, the 27-year-old Patel has US permanent residency status and UK citizenship but according to the USACA official, Patel only was able to demonstrate dates of US entry and exit from a UK passport issued in 2014 and an Indian passport which had expired in 2007. It meant they could not prove his dates of US entry and exit from 2011 through 2014 in order to prove his eligibility.

The allrounder had spent his teenage years living in Southern California but after graduating from university accepted a job at a US multi-national in the UK for several years and played premier league cricket in Middlesex and Essex from 2011-2014. During those years he split his time between the US and the UK before returning to live full-time back in California again during the summer of 2014.

Patel made an immediate impact on his return to the US domestic scene and was named 2014 USACA National Tournament MVP last August. He was second in runs at the most recent USACA National Tournament in April. He is yet to make his senior team debut but previously represented USA at the 2006 ICC U-19 World Cup in Sri Lanka.

Team sources indicated that Patel will not be leaving Indianapolis but instead is staying with the team as both he and USACA officials attempt to have the required missing documentation couriered to Indianapolis so that he may have his eligibility reinstated and be able to take part in the final three matches. USA has an off day on Wednesday before resuming play on Thursday morning against Bermuda at 10am.