South-African cricketer to play for Italy in T20 World Cup:JJ Smuts makes it to squad; qualifying captain Joe Burns gets ruled out

Italy has included former South African player Jon-Jon (JJ) Smuts in its squad for the T20 World Cup. Former Australian player Joe Burns, who captained the team in the qualifier stage, has been dropped. Meanwhile, two pairs of brothers have also been given a chance in the team. Wayne Madsen will captain Right-hand batsman Wayne Madsen will captain Italy. He has played only 4 T20 Internationals. The team is participating in an ICC tournament for the first time. In the 15-member squad, two pairs of brothers, Harry Manenti and Benjamin Manenti, along with Anthony Mosca and Justin Mosca, have been given a chance. Italy qualified by finishing second Italy was captained by former Australian cricketer Joe Burns in the T20 World Cup Qualifiers. Under his leadership, the team finished second after the Netherlands in the qualifier stage. After the tournament ended, the board stripped Burns of his captaincy and removed him from the team. Italy’s coaching staff includes head coach Jon Davison and former Ireland captain Kevin O’Brien as assistant coach. Italy is in Bangladesh’s Group Italy has been placed in Group C for the T20 World Cup to be held in India and Sri Lanka. It also includes England, Nepal, Bangladesh, and the West Indies. The team will play its first match against Bangladesh in Kolkata on 9th February. Then they will face Nepal on 12 February, England on the 16th, and the West Indies on the 19th. World Cup to start from 7 February The T20 World Cup will run from 7 February to 8 March. 20 teams have been divided into 4 groups of 5 each. Each team will play 4 matches in its group. After the group stage, the top-2 teams in the points table will enter the Super-8. Here too, 4 teams each will be divided into 2 groups. The top 2 teams will get entry into the semi-finals, and the winners of these will play the final. Italy’s Squad Wayne Madsen (Captain), Zain Ali, Marcus Campopiano (Wicketkeeper), Ali Hasan, Krishan Kalugamage, Harry Manenti, Gian Piero Meade, Anthony Mosca, Justin Mosca, Syed Naqvi, Benjamin Manenti, Jaspreet Singh, JJ Smuts, Grant Stewart and Thomas Draca.