Here’s why USA dropped Aaron Jones from ODI squad for World Cup 2nd tri-series

I United States of America (USA) the cricket team has unveiled its ODI squad for the upcoming match World Cup League 2 (WCL-2) series three, which starts on Friday. The selection committee has decided to stick with the same squad that has been successful in Namibia in September with WCL-2 matches. However, a notable exception to the group is the star strike Aaron Jones.

Aaron Jones has dropped but not for form or fitness

Most notably, Jones’ absence from the team was not due to concerns about his form or fitness. Instead, the decision stems from his choice to prioritize playing in Caribbean Premier League (CPL) on behalf of the national team.

Jones chose to skip the trip to Namibia and the USA in order to fulfill his contract with St. Lucia Kings in CPL. This decision is reported to have gone down well with the USA Cricket committee and management, especially since it came despite ‘warnings’ from the cricket board.

While Jones was able to play in the CPL as a local player without needing a ‘No Objection Certificate’ (NOC) from USA Cricket, the circumstances surrounding his absence from the national team appear to have led to his exclusion.

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Strong play in Jones’ absence contributed to the decision

On the tour of Namibia, the USA team succeeded without Jones, remaining unbeaten in their four ODI matches. The team’s success in his absence may have strengthened the selectors’ determination to make the bold call to drop Jones. Although he was later brought back into the T20I series, thanks to his impressive performance in the CPL final, Jones struggled in the Nepal T20I series last week, raising the possibility that his place in the T20I squad could also be in jeopardy.

Team USA in the WCL-2 Tri-series

Monank Patel (captain), Smit Patel, Sai Teja Mukkamalla, Milind Kumar, Shayan Jahangir, Andries Gous, Harmeet Singh, Nosthush Kenjige, Saurabh Netravalkar, Juanoy Drysdale, Utkarsh Srivastava, Jasdeep Singh, Shadley Van Schalkwyk, Sulshak Modani, Yasir Montham

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