For a team to do well in any tournament, the captain’s role is extremely vital and batting great Ian Bell has been given the responsibility to lead English Reds in the inaugural edition of the Global Power Cricket League (GPCL), slated to be held in India from October 2 to October 9.
Bell has been around for a long time, having made his debut in professional cricket way back in 1999. The 40-year-old has represented England in 118 Tests, 161 ODIs and eight T20Is, amassing over 13,000 runs with 26 centuries.
As far as his T20 exploits are concerned – Bell has scored 2790 runs in 107 matches at a strike rate of 124.11 with one hundred and 18 half-centuries.
His rich experience and presence in the dressing room will certainly help the youngsters in the English Reds squad.
Notably, the 14-member squad includes a number of youngsters, especially the Indian diaspora global youth cricketers.
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Talking about the GPCL T20, the eight teams have been divided into two groups. English Reds are slotted in Pool A alongside Indian Sapphires, Scottish Mulberries and American Indigos whereas Australian Golds, South African Emeralds, Sri Lankan Violets, and Irish Olives are part of Pool B.
Every team will play one match against the other three sides before the top two teams from each group will move to the semi-final, where the toppers of each pool will take on the second-placed side of the other pool.
Ultimately, the winners of the semi-final will face each other in the final. All the games will be played at Yamuna Sports Complex Cricket Ground in New Delhi.
English Reds will begin their GPCL campaign against Scottish Mulberries on October 3.
English Reds Squad:
Ian Bell (c), Atif Sheikh, Amrit Singh Basra, Saif Zaib, Phil Harris, Emilio Gay, Adil Ali, Tommy Rex, Ollie Sheen, Hisham Khan, Duv Wood, Barinder Pagura, George Barldwin, Harrison Tagg
